Frog water paint: a useful plant for reservoirs. Botanical description and appearance of the plant

There are plants that seem to be tired of the dry land, and they went down to the calm water to admire their reflection. Among them is vodokras - an inhabitant of quiet ponds and coastal backwaters. This article will tell you about botanical features plants, its decorative properties and use in landscape design and folk medicine.

In Latin, vodokras is called hydrocharis - "decoration of water". Everything in it resembles a water lily, reduced several times. The same shape is a rounded leaf with a cutout - but with a diameter of only 3-5 cm. And White flower it also rises above the water - but there are only three petals in it and they are the size of a metal ruble.

Ordinary vodokras, aka frog - perennial, which floats on the surface of the reservoir, often in the vicinity of duckweed. In the ground, it is fixed only with a sharp drop in the water level. The lower part of the plant is represented by a short rhizome, as if bitten off from below. This circumstance formed the basis for the specific name of the vodokras - "morsus ranae" - a frog bite. Hence the popular names: frog and toad.

Each specimen of this plant is a rosette of leaves on long petioles. To increase buoyancy, there are air-filled bulges in the lower part of the leaf blades. Thin horizontal shoots up to 50 cm long are used for vegetative propagation summer.

In addition, wintering buds (turions) are formed in the water color, which become significantly denser by autumn and sink to the bottom. By spring, air cavities appear in the kidneys, thanks to which the turions rise to the surface. The mucus covering these buds allows them to adhere to the fur of semi-aquatic mammals and feathers of birds for settling in new bodies of water.

For full characteristics frog water color, it should be noted:

• dioeciousness - male and female flowers are formed on different individuals;
• contrast - the flowers are white, with yellow centers, against the background of emerald leaves;
• nectar content - vodokras is pollinated by small hymenoptera insects;
• prevalence of vegetative propagation over seed.

Chemical composition and distribution of water color

On this moment chemical composition poorly studied. It contains sedative flavonoids, as well as anthocyanins and leukoanthocyanins, which have antioxidant activity. There is evidence that the plant is capable of accumulating radioisotopes. For this reason, its collection and use for medicinal purposes is possible only in radiation-free areas.

The genus Vodokras includes two types. Frog water color is typical for water bodies of Europe, middle lane the European part of Russia, the Caucasus and Western Siberia... The second species - dubious water color, or Asian - lives in the southern part of Primorsky Territory, in Japan, Indochina.

The plant inhabits the outskirts of overgrown lakes and other bodies of water: river backwaters, ditches, swamps, ponds. In its introduced form, hydrocharis is found almost all over the world, performing the task of decorating garden ponds.

Application, medicinal properties and harm of water paint

The plant is not included in the State Pharmacopoeia and is not used in official medicine. The main direction of using hydrocharis in folk medicine is the creation on its basis sedatives... They are prescribed for:

• insomnia and heavy, restless dreams;
• Painful erection (priapism)
• excessive sex drive;
• too frequent emissions;
• neurasthenia.

The anti-inflammatory effect of frog grass works for female diseases with profuse leucorrhoea, abrasions, diaper rash and other skin conditions fraught with infection.

The main property of hydrocharisa preparations is a sedative. They accelerate the processes of inhibition in overexcited areas of the cerebral cortex, reduce the feeling of anxiety, and promote rapid sleep. They relax the smooth muscles of the blood vessels, resulting in a decrease in blood pressure in patients.

Vodokras does not contain toxic substances, but there are still a number of contraindications to its use: chronic inflammation of the intestines and hypotension.

Use in landscaping and aquarium decoration

The frog has decorative properties, so it is often used in landscape design as a cute, discreet decoration for small ponds. Growing and caring for a plant is not difficult. In the spring, water-paint bushes, taken from a natural reservoir, are dipped in a pink solution of potassium permanganate and immersed in water. After a while, they will sprout horizontal shoots - "whiskers" - with young rosettes of leaves. In June-July, long-stemmed watercolors will adorn the green surface of the pond.

By mid-autumn, floating plants will die, leaving only hibernating buds. If the pond freezes to the bottom, it is worth collecting several buds and placing them in a refrigerator in a jar of water. When the pond has completely melted in the spring, the buds just need to be thrown into it.

Diseases and pests rarely affect frogs. Weakened plants can be affected by rot - such specimens are removed from the water and thrown into compost heap... The snails that settled on the leaves of the water paint are collected by hand and transported further into nature, and the caterpillars of the fireflies are destroyed.

Hydrocharis is often used as an aquarium plant - it is an original decorative light filter. In spawning tanks, it acts as a substrate for eggs and a refuge for hatched fry.

In the aquarium, the water color grows and multiplies in the same way as under open air... He only needs lighting and a comfortable temperature. He receives nitrogen nutrition from water, processing waste products of fish. Excess sockets are removed as they develop. In the absence of animals in the aquarium, to stimulate growth, hydrocharis is fed with a urea solution (1 g of substance per 1 l of water).

Collection, storage and recipes with vodokras

The medicinal raw material of vodokras is the herb during the flowering of the plant. It is collected from the surface of the reservoir with a net, observing safety precautions. To restore the population, some of the plants are left in place.

The frog material is excessively wet, so it is first laid out in a thin layer in the shade in the open air and is often stirred. When the grass loses some of the moisture, it is transferred to a dryer or to an attic heated by a metal roof. For storage, paper bags are used.

Infusion is the only galenic preparation that is prepared on the basis of water paint. A tablespoon of dry grass is poured with a glass of boiling water and insisted for 2 hours. For insomnia and other disorders nervous system the strained infusion is consumed 1-2 tablespoons three times a day.

In case of skin inflammations, a fresh sheet of water-paint is crushed into gruel and applied to the affected area, changing the "green bandage" several times.

Vodokras - medicinal plant

A cheerful, emerald-bright frog with white drops of flowers - an exquisite decoration for forest backwaters, sun ponds in private gardens and spawning aquariums. Despite its modest size, it soothes the nerves with the contrast of fresh greenery and dark water - an ideal plant for meditative contemplation.

A beautiful aquatic plant from the vodokrass family, resembling a water lily with its small rounded leaves, is an ordinary vodokras. It is native to the tropical wetlands of Eurasia and China, North Africa and Japan. It is widely distributed throughout Russia, where there are stagnant waters.

Botanical description and appearance of the plant with a photo

A perennial plant Frog water paint (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae) is called differently - a paddling pool, a frog plant. This is because the short rhizome looks like a gnawed kind of "frog bite".

Each bush has a floating stem with long-stemmed leaves collected in rosettes. The root gets its nourishment from water and therefore does not require rooting in the soil. The leaves are like a water lily, but only 3-4 cm in size. In the shape of the plate, they are wide-heart-shaped, rounded.

Growing, the flower dissolves a long mustache, like a strawberry bush, and thus a bunch of several representatives goes into a group. Hydrocharis blooms in the middle of summer, releasing small white flowers.

Vodokras bears fruit quite rarely, develops as a dioecious plant, having flowers with pistils on some bushes, and with stamens on others.

Meaning and application

Due to its wide leaves and rapid growth, vodokras is able to cover the surface of the water from direct rays of the sun. This prevents the water from overheating and helps to retain oxygen in the pond.

Interesting! Aquatic plants are beneficial for water bodies because they equalize nutrient levels by absorbing excess. Provides food for animals inhabiting the pond and is able to shelter them from danger.

The aerial part is harvested during the appearance of white flowers and dried, used as an anti-inflammatory agent. Ready-made tinctures also have a calming effect for various ailments. Applies only as folk remedy, but it contains toxic substances, therefore it is worth considering side effects.

Life cycle

The aquatic plant floats in small clusters on the surface of the pond. Gradually, young processes gain strength, start up roots and separate from mother bush... This is how vegetative reproduction occurs.

With the arrival of autumn, the plant produces thin shoots with large buds at the ends. These buds are intended for wintering and survival. They sink to the bottom for a calm winter. The bush itself throws off the foliage and thereby dies off before the arrival of heat.

Vodokras ordinary floats on the surface of the reservoir.

In the spring, air pockets form in the kidneys, which allows them to rise to the surface. Small leaves come out and the plant begins a new cycle.

How to grow at home, planting, winter hardiness

Hydrocharis hibernates at the bottom of the reservoir in the form of dormant buds (turions), but they do not always survive. To surely prolong the life of the species, it is recommended to collect several buds and put them in a glass container with water. Gradual silting will guarantee the integrity of the kidney.

Important! In the spring, the dormant plant must be returned to the garden pond, thereby giving it the opportunity to continue its existence.

It is allowed to breed hydrocharis in an aquarium, because the growth process takes long time... It is important to observe here the necessary conditions(lighting, hardness) and the amount of nutrients.

Young offshoots can be purchased at a specialized store or taken from a natural reservoir. For preventive purposes, the bush must be kept in a pale pink solution of manganese. It is enough just to put the outlet on the water, and it will find a place for itself.

For the winter, Vodokras can be moved to a special glass container, and returned to the pond in the spring.

How the plant "moves" to other bodies of water

The frog plant is able to migrate from one body of water to another. For this, nature has invented the mucous membrane of wintering turions. By sticking to the paws of waterfowl or flying birds, or the fur of aquatic mammals, future vodokras move into a new home.

The benefits and use of water paint

The undoubted use of hydrocharis in its decorative effect. This beautiful flower able to give fresh and blooming view any body of water.

Gradually expanding into large communities, forming something like a blanket, it hides the surface of the water from the sun, protects insects from heat, and helps to cleanse the water from clogging.

When choosing plants for reservoirs, you always need to take into account their growth. A frog plant can braid the entire surface if the pond is small. In this case, it is useful to periodically prune the shoots by removing young rosettes.

Advice! To stimulate the growth of young shoots and increase the area of ​​\ u200b \ u200bthe “blanket”, treatments with urea are recommended.

At a shallow depth of the aquatic kingdom, plants should be transferred to another body of water or an aquarium for the winter. Even a sufficient depth, exceeding the depth of freezing, cannot guarantee the survival of a dormant kidney. Therefore, it is advisable to bring several such copies into the house before the onset of warm days.

Vodokras grows very quickly, and if it is not thinned out, it will tighten the entire surface of the reservoir.

Frog water paint: interesting facts related to the name

Hydrocharis scientifically means literally "water decoration". And the specific feature of morsus-ranae is translated as “frog bite”. In addition, frogs like to gather near this plant in anticipation of their prey or simply jump on a loose pillow.

V North America for its ability to rapidly expand and intertwine the surface of the water received the nickname "European frog".

In the old days, it was called a water vein for its ability to cleanse water from pollution and wrap up lakes or stagnant waters, preserving the life of underwater inhabitants.

On the territory of Belarus, it was named zhabnik. Decorates the coat of arms of the city of Zhabinka Brest region since 2008.

On the video you can see an aquatic plant Vodokras ordinary, grown at home.

Frog water color is very common in our reservoirs. It is a very beautiful and rather unpretentious perennial aquatic plant. Its area is Europe and Siberia. The plant got its name from the frog bite for the peculiar shape of the leaf with a deep, as if bitten, notch. In addition, frogs love to hide among its rounded, bright green leaves. Numerous leaves on long petioles and a lush bunch of roots also serve as an excellent refuge for other small inhabitants of reservoirs. Frog water paint purifies water, and many leaves tightly overlap the surface and protect the reservoir from overheating.

The snow-white three-petal flowers bloom continuously from early summer to late autumn. From the base of the rosette, "whiskers" shoots with new plants are formed. At their ends, large buds are formed, which fall off in autumn, hibernate and give life to new plants in spring. They winter well and in natural conditions even withstand severe frosts. The small size allows the use of frog Vodokras even in very small indoor ponds.

Botanical characteristic

Vodokras ordinary or frog, in translation - Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, its other names are frog water, gill, frog, frog. This plant belongs to aquatic herbaceous perennials. Its roots are rather short, fleshy, they do not attach to the ground, they have air cavities, which are separated by transverse partitions.

The stem is floating, short, rather thin. Leaves are long-petiolate, with entire floating plates, reniform-rounded, at the base they are with a deep notch, they are very similar to water lilies, only smaller... Flowers of white color are unisexual, dioecious. You can admire this plant in almost any natural body of water.

It is worth noting that the plant is kept afloat thanks to the air cavities that permeate the roots and leaves of the plant, which ensures its good buoyancy in natural water bodies.

The graceful bloom and beauty of the floating leaves will make a good impression on anyone. Vodokras belongs to the Vodokras family. Among the leaves of this plant, you can see frog heads with blinking eyes, which greatly enlivens any body of water.

As already became clear, this plant floats on the surface of the water. Its branching and numerous roots are completely submerged in water in order to extract from it nutrients... In dry years, when the reservoir begins to dry out, the gillberry is forced to take root, although free swimming- this is his natural state.

Flowering of this representative of the flora begins at the end of the first summer month and lasts until the end of August. It should be noted that the flowers of the water color are quite graceful, they have three white petals and a yellowish core. Their size can reach four centimeters in diameter, they rise above the surface of the water at about the same distance.

The life of an ordinary water color flower is short-lived, but new ones constantly appear, which replace the fading ones. The plant is dioecious, on one bush there can be only staminate or pistillate flowers.

Insects pollinate flowers, but vegetative propagation is considered the main method of reproduction. New rosettes form at the ends of the side shoots, similar to the way strawberries do. Therefore, most often frog water paint found in small thickets, such dense flocks, which are concentrated close to the coast.

Grown young plants form roots, and over time they break away from the mothers, starting their independent existence. By the beginning of September, winter buds begin to form, leaves are quite densely packed in them.

Old leaves die off for the winter. Buds fall to the bottom of the reservoir in the fall, where the plant grows, and with the onset of warm spring days, air cavities begin to gradually appear in them, and they float to the surface, where young leaves unfold, starting the next life cycle.

The plant enters other natural bodies of water thanks to birds and animals. The winter kidney is covered with sticky mucus, thanks to which a protective function is provided, and this substance serves as a kind of glue, due to which it attaches to the legs and to the fur of aquatic mammals and birds.

This plant serves as a refuge for various small inhabitants of a natural reservoir, and it also purifies the water and does not allow it to overheat too much. Vodokras ordinary is considered a decorative unpretentious representative of the flora, it is often bred in artificial reservoirs and in aquariums. It will look great even in the smallest garden pond.

V warm winter the plant can easily overwinter in a small garden pond... But, nevertheless, it is better to remove several buds from the reservoir in the fall and store in a cool place in a glass jar, where you need to pour water with silty soil.

Spring content glass jars together with the buds, you need to pour it into your pond, and soon the awakened gill-gill will again be able to decorate the reservoir with its beautiful, charming bushes.

Spreading

The plant is widespread throughout Russia and Ukraine, it can be seen in fresh stagnant water bodies, in slowly flowing waters, on the coastal surface of lakes, in quiet backwaters. In nature, its habitat is quite wide, it is both Western and Eastern Europe, Asia and Siberia.

Part used

The part used is the aerial part of this plant, it contains flavonoids, leukoanthocyanins, anthocyanins, leukocyanidin.

Collection and procurement of raw materials

It is customary to harvest the aerial part during the flowering of the plant.

Application

An infusion is prepared from the aerial part, which has a soothing, astringent and anti-inflammatory properties. Its use is indicated for diarrhea, with leucorrhoea, with excessive sex drive, with insomnia. It is worth knowing that this plant accumulates radioisotopes.

Recipes

To prepare the infusion, you need two teaspoons of dry herb of water-paint, which must first be crushed and filled with 200 milliliters of boiling water, after which the drug must be infused for at least two hours, then it is recommended to filter it using a fine mesh strainer. You need to take it fifteen or thirty grams three times a day.

Conclusion

Before using the infusion, consult your doctor.