Wild radish flower and fruit. Wild radish, field (raphanus raphanistrum l.). wild radish plant

Wild radish- an annual plant of the cruciferous family, 50-70 cm high. The root is thin, taproot, the stem is straight, ribbed, sometimes with nodules (“warts”), branched, rough, coarsely hairy below. The leaves have stiff hairs, the basal leaves are on long petioles, pinnately pinnately divided, the stem leaves are lanceolate, notched-toothed. The flowers are pale yellow, less often white or with a purple tint, four-petaled, fragrant, honey-bearing. The fruits are oblong pods, divided into 5-11 segments. Wild radish blooms in June - August, the fruits ripen in August - September.

Grows throughout Europe, North Africa and Western Asia (except the Arabian Peninsula). Naturalized everywhere. It grows in meadows, near rivers, in steppes and as a weed in fields in most regions of Russia. Wild radish is also found on city lawns, where it can be seen in bloom not only in late spring - summer, but also in autumn.

From ancient times They eat its stems fresh, prepare salads, and use them as an antiscorbutic remedy. In England, wild radish became a field crop. Soups, salads, and various seasonings are prepared from it. The edible parts of wild radish are the leaves, stems and rhizomes. The leaves of young plants resemble garden radish in taste. In small quantities they can be added to vitamin-rich salads in the spring, but they are not suitable for cooking - they are very bitter. The roots are pickled and used as a seasoning, like horseradish. Dried roots in powder lose their bitterness and can be used to prepare sauces and seasonings. Popular names of the plant are gorlyupa, chicken drowsiness, field mustard, jaundice, jaundice, abscess grass, redeshnik, fierce, field horseradish.

For medicinal purposes They use grass (collected during flowering) and wild radish seeds. The aerial part of the radish contains flavonoids (monoglycosides, biosides, daglycosides of kaempferol and quercetin, 7-rhamnoside of kaempferol, 7-rhamnoside of quercetin, etc.), thioglycosides (glucobrassicin), vitamin C. The seeds contain fatty oil.

A classic of medieval Armenian medicine, Amirdovlat Amasiatsi, wrote that the aerial part of wild radish was prescribed for sexual impotence in old age. In modern folk medicine and in dietary nutrition, it is used as a source of vitamins, for anemia, as an antiscorbutic, and tonic.

Wild radish is a herbaceous, poisonous annual plant that colonizes fields as a weed. It is unpretentious to climate and soil, distributed over almost all continents, most often found in the forest zone of Europe, as well as in meadows, along roads, wastelands and even on city lawns. It germinates, as a rule, in spring and summer, but it also happens in autumn, at an air temperature of +2-4 degrees C.

Field plant - wild radish

The Cruciferous family are plants that are pollinated by insects. Therefore, many of them smell and have nectar. Ours belongs to this family.

It has a fairly high, splayed, straight stem (reaches 50-60 cm in height), covered with stiff hairs. The leaf is lyre-shaped and grows alternately. in the form of a shortened root. The color of the flowers is white, yellowish, rarely purple-white. The weed's petals grow crosswise and consist of one pistil and six stamens. The length of the fruit, which ripens in the fall in the form of a pod divided into 5-10 segments, can reach 8 cm. The seeds are in oval-shaped pods of a reddish hue.

Reproduction occurs by seeds - from 150 to 300 per plant. Seeds germinate from a depth of no more than 3-4 cm in the second year. In the fall they become covered with a dense shell, in which they survive the winter well, and continue to sprout in the spring.

Scientists have proven that in soil a seed can maintain its viability for up to 10 years. Wild radish blooms in May-September and bears fruit in July-October. In the phases of germination and the beginning of fruiting, it can withstand frosts down to -11°C, but does not overwinter.

The plant does a lot of damage in fertile fields; it spreads well throughout the beds, preventing vegetable crops from germinating.

Properties

Wild radish is endowed with poisonous properties when in bloom, and only loses them when dried. It looks similar in appearance to radish, their taste is also similar, but the consequences of taking wild radish (inflorescences) are disastrous, namely: severe poisoning occurs, the signs of which are bright-colored urine, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, tachycardia, and irreversible changes in the kidneys. In such a case, it is necessary to provide first aid: rinse the stomach and, if deterioration in the cardiovascular system is observed, then be sure to take cardiac medications.

In some countries, for example in England, the stems of this plant are used for food in the form of salads, soups and even seasonings, but after treatment with heat they are not suitable for this, as they have a bitter taste. When dried, they are used to make seasonings.

Closer to autumn, when the pods ripen, the weed becomes dangerous for animals: when released, it can lead to acute damage to the gastrointestinal tract. The plant looks similar to field mustard. Poisoning of rabbits is possible after feeding grass from the fields.

However, radish has excellent honey-bearing properties - it provides a large amount of nectar and pollen for bees. In folk medicine, a decoction of it was used as an expectorant. Beneficial properties include the content of vitamin C in the aerial part of the weed, and in the seeds - 20-32% fatty oil.

There is a constant fight against this weed, since they did not have time to sow bread and plant potatoes - the wild radish is already outgrowing, which greatly annoys gardeners. Its reproduction on cultivated soils can be controlled using herbicides. The active ingredients of these products can be very diverse.

Finally, we will share with you an interesting and simple dish that can be prepared from this plant.

Wild radish salad recipe

Wash the leaves (200 g), cut them, put them in a deep plate. Grind the yolks (2 eggs) with sour cream (1/2 cup), sugar (1 tablespoon), vinegar (1 tablespoon), sunflower oil (1 tablespoon) and salt. Beat the whole mixture and pour it over the leaves, sprinkle chopped parsley, dill and onion on top.

Conclusion

Now you know what wild radish looks like - you can see a photo of it in our article. You know how and where it grows and what the properties of this plant are.

Field radish is a herbaceous annual plant of the Brassica family. It is widespread not only in European territory, but also in North Africa, as well as in the territories of the West Asian region. Naturalized wherever there are suitable conditions for this.

  • Basic landing rules
  • Features of agricultural technology
  • Harvesting and storage

Wild radish grows in the form of a long, twisting, branched stem from 20 to 70 cm in height. The leaves are shaped like a lyre, covered with stiff hairs, and split at the bottom. The flowers are formed into tassels. The ovary forms as inconspicuous columns and, as it develops, forms a fruit in the form of a pod. It has an oblong shape, divided into separate sections.

The fruits are red or reddish-brown, irregularly spherical in shape. For 1 gram of seeds you need to collect approximately 130 pieces.

Despite the unpretentiousness of the plant, you need to consider some points:

  • The only restrictions on previous crops when planting are plants of the same Cruciferous family: radishes, cabbage, daikon and other representatives of the species. This is due to the possible presence of pests at the planting site that affect members of the family. If they are still detected, you need to use the preparations Iskra golden or Confidor, which are very effective in the fight against cross-shaped flea.
  • The time for planting seeds depends on the gardener’s future plans for this crop. The fact is that field radish consistently produces two harvests per season. The peculiarity of the first harvest is that despite all the remaining positive properties of the root crop, it does not have a shelf life and is unsuitable for harvesting for the winter. This quality is inherent in the autumn harvest. Thus, the date for the second planting falls in the first ten days of June, and for the southern regions it is the end of the month.
  • The culture is not demanding on soil composition. But, if you want to get a decent harvest, you need to add humus that has been aged for 2-3 years. Knowing the adherence of root crops to loose soil, it should be diluted by 20-25% with wood ash.

    When choosing a place for planting, you need to take into account that wild radish loves well-lit places. When planting, the seeds are embedded in the soil 2-3 centimeters deep. After the emergence of seedlings, the soil in the garden bed needs to be loosened and the plants thinned out. Leave a distance of 5-6cm between neighboring plants. During the second thinning, seedlings are left at a distance of about 15 cm.

    In the phase of the appearance of the first 3-4 leaves, you need to make the first fertilizing of the plants. Agronomy recommends using only mineral fertilizers for this, since organic substances adversely affect the taste and shelf life of root crops. Repeated feeding is done a month after the first.

    The optimal composition of fertilizing per 10 liters of water consists of the following components:

    • urea – 20g;
    • superphosphate – 60g;
    • potassium chloride – 15g.

    Radish is wild and requires increased attention to regular watering. Even a short stay of root crops in dry soil negatively affects the quantity and quality of the harvest.

    When nurturing this crop in practice, a number of additional methods for improving the yield have been developed, among which the following can be distinguished:


    In Russia, it is practiced to plant mid-ripening and late-ripening fruits, the growing season of which is 70-100 days for the former, up to 100 days for the latter.

    Winter radishes are carefully sorted, damaged fruits are stored separately for quick use. Whole ones should be placed in wooden or plastic boxes in one layer. You can stack several, but each of them is covered with dry river sand.

    The temperature in the basement for long-term storage should be +1-4°C. Periodically, at least once a month, root crops need to be sorted, removing diseased and damaged ones.

    This will help avoid massive product spoilage. If root vegetables become soft to the touch, place several open containers of water in the basement to increase the humidity level. An indicator of 85% is considered normal. Under normal conditions, radish is stored until the next harvest.

    Field radish is worthy of returning to vegetable gardens and garden plots, since it has unique taste qualities, as well as a number of useful properties. The simplicity of the agricultural technology for its cultivation is also attractive.

  • Wild radish– spring annual plant of the Brassicaceae family.

    The height of the plants is 20-60 cm. The stem is straight, covered with stiff hairs. The leaves are lyre-pinnately dissected, with a large apical lobe and 4-6 oblong-ovate unequally toothed lobes. The inflorescence is a raceme. The flowers are 4-membered, actinomorphic, with cross-shaped yellow petals; sometimes the color of the petals can be white or with a purple tint. The fruit is a segmented pod, with a distinct longitudinally grooved lower part, and an elongated long conical spout at the top. The pod is bare, woody, straw-yellow, and splits into separate segments when ripe along false transverse partitions. The seeds are reddish-brown, oval-spherical, with a matte mesh surface.

    Seeds enclosed in shells retain 10% germination even after passing through the digestive tract of animals. Wild radish blooms from May to September, and the fruits ripen in July-October. Up to 2500 seeds can ripen on one plant. Seeds begin to germinate in the second year at a temperature of 2-4°C from a depth of less than 3-4 cm. The seeds can remain viable for more than 10 years. The plant does not overwinter, but the seedlings can withstand frosts down to -11°C.

    Wild radish is distributed throughout Western Europe (except Northern Scandinavia), Syria, Asia Minor, and is introduced into North America. In the CIS it grows in Siberia, the Caucasus and the Far East.

    Wild radish prefers loose soil. It grows strongly in years with cold springs and high humidity. Radish fruits ripen before grain harvesting, so when they fall off, they heavily clog the soil and partially fall into the grain during harvesting. The plant spreads mainly through cereal seeds.

    Wild radish most often infests spring crops in the Non-Chernozem Zone. It is also found in the southern regions, but is losing its importance as a weed. It will grow in fallows and along roads as a ruderal plant. For protection, it is recommended to carry out early peeling and plowing in the fall, use rotted manure, and clean the seed on triremes.

    Wild radish, a lush, herbaceous annual weed, is often found in the meadows and fields of our country. Fills all available space, regardless of soil composition and climatic conditions. Wild radish is a poisonous plant, but it also has beneficial medicinal properties.

    Botanical description

    Wild radish is an annual plant from the cruciferous family, its Latin name is “Raphanus raphanistrum”. The plant is considered a weed and is widespread throughout our country, especially in the southern and eastern regions.

    The weed grows in abandoned areas, roadsides, crop fields, pastures, pond banks, floodplains, and open forests in temperate, subtropical, semi-arid, and sometimes tropical regions.

    Roots, leaves and flowers

    An annual herbaceous plant with a vertically growing herbaceous stem usually reaches 40-60 cm in height. The root system is shallow and weakly branched. Wild radish produces a basal rosette of large, deeply lobed leaves during the early stages of growth. Its smaller and narrower upper leaves are alternately arranged on the stem and have fewer lobes than the lower leaves of the plant.

    The annual may have white, pale yellow, lilac, pink or, rarely, purple flowers (18-40 mm across) that have four petals. Flowers are arranged in loose, elongated clusters at the tips of herbaceous branches. The annual blooms in early summer.

    Wild radish stems are round or slightly lanceolate and range in color from bluish-green to purple. The stems may be unbranched or form several long branches near the base of the plant.

    The leaves are green or bluish-green in color, covered with small, stiff hairs and slightly rough to the touch. The lower (rosette) leaves of the plant are large (from 15-30 cm in length and 5-10 cm in width), located higher along the stem, and have narrow and jagged edges. The higher the top of the plant, the smaller and sparser the leaves.
    Reproduction

    • At the end of flowering, elongated seed pods form on the plant (3-9 cm in length and 3-6 mm in width). The testes are attached to the wild radish by stems 1-3 cm long and end in a tapering “beak” (1-3 cm long). The seed pod is divided into several segments. The testes resemble a pod in which the pea seeds are found. The seed pod is green or purple in color when immature and turns yellowish brown or grayish in color as it matures.
    • When the seed pods are fully ripe, they easily split into 3-10 segments (3-7 mm long and 2-5 mm wide). Moreover, each segment contains one seed. The seeds are almost round in shape, their diameter is from 1.5 to 4 mm, and are red or yellowish-brown in color. During the season, from 150 to 300 seeds ripen on an annual plant. Seeds that fall to the ground germinate only a year later, after winter stratification under natural conditions.
    • Wild radish reproduces only by seeds, which are spread some distance from the mother plant by wind, water, animals and humans. It is believed that the spread of the seeds of this weed over long distances occurs due to weed-contaminated grain (wheat, oats, rye).
    Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) is primarily a weed found in agricultural lands and near human habitation. The annual plant is called a good honey plant; the calyxes of the flower stalks contain enough nectar and pollinating insects are attracted by the sweet, far-reaching aroma.
    In agriculture, this weed is regularly controlled in cultivated fields, since vegetable crops or grains take longer to germinate than wild radish seeds. If measures are not taken in time and the unwanted inhabitant of the field is not destroyed, the weed will grow and will not allow bread or potatoes to grow. In private farms, gardeners destroy wild radishes using hand weeding; in large areas, their reproduction is kept under control using herbicide treatments.

    Did you know? The ancient Egyptians regarded radishes as food for people of low origin. Basically, it was fed to the workers who built the pyramids in the Valley of the Kings.

    What is the danger

    Wild and cultivated radishes are very similar to each other, but the inflorescences of the wild relative are poisonous. When wild radishes bloom, they become very toxic. Only after the stems and leaves are thoroughly dried will they lose their poisonous qualities.

    When the plant blooms, its above-ground parts (stems, leaves and flowers) produce mustard oils, which are a source of toxic substances. If during flowering wild mustard greens or flowers are added to any culinary dish, then eaters can get seriously poisoned.

    Wild radish root should not be eaten, regardless of the flowering of the plant, it is very toxic.

    Signs of poisoning:

    • the body is subjected to severe intoxication;
    • the color of the urine changes to bright yellow or orange;
    • a person is susceptible to attacks of nausea and vomiting;
    • heart rate increases;
    • dizzy;
    • irreversible changes occur in the kidneys.

    What to do in case of poisoning

    1. Rinse the stomach - you need to give the victim plenty of drink (add 4 drops of ammonia per liter of water), and then induce vomiting.
    2. Rinse the intestinal tract - perform an enema with warm water with the addition of manganese (pale pink water).
    3. If the heart hurts or arrhythmia is clearly felt, give the victim cardiac medications (validol, nitroglycerin).
    4. It will be good if the victim drinks 1-2 liters of freshly brewed jelly of medium thickness (it coats the walls of the stomach and relieves inflammation).
    5. A cold (not ice) compress is placed on the patient’s stomach.
    6. After these actions are taken, immediately call an ambulance.

    The British traditionally use the green part of this plant to prepare salads, seasonings and first courses. True, they do this not at the moment when the plant is blooming. Wild radishes are eaten only fresh, because after heat treatment the plants develop a strong bitter taste. The above-ground part of wild radish is specially dried for the preparation of culinary seasonings.

    As the seed pods form and the seeds ripen within them, this weed becomes dangerous to herbivores (goats, cows, rabbits and nutria). If you mistakenly feed animals this weed, the mustard oils it contains will lead to acute damage to the gastrointestinal tract and death of pets.

    Important!Livestock breeders can be misled by the external similarity of wild radish and field mustard. You should be extremely careful.

    Beneficial features

    The main reason for changes in health during this period is an acute lack of vitamins. This deficiency can be compensated for with the help of pharmacy vitamin complexes or obtained mineral nutrients from a weed plant - wild radish.

    Useful substances found in this plant:

    • minerals;
    • essential oils;
    • vitamins;
    • potassium;
    • phosphorus;
    • iron;
    • calcium;
    • sodium salts

    Its aerial parts (stems and leaves) contain vitamin C, and ripened seeds are a source of vegetable oils, the percentage of which in ripened wild radish seeds reaches 32%.

    Beneficial features:

    • antimicrobial;
    • bactericidal;
    • expectorant;
    • antiscorbutic;
    • antianemic;
    • antibacterial.
    The plant is a natural antibiotic; taking it in the right doses does not cause side effects or contraindications, which is the problem with many pharmacological drugs.

    Did you know? The ancient Greeks considered the radish to be the king vegetable and cast it life-size in gold. It was an offering to the god Apollo at the annual Delphic celebrations.

    The plant promotes:
    • rapid metabolism (metabolism);
    • increases the body's production of saliva and gastric juice several times;
    • works as a diuretic, thereby eliminating swelling;
    • improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract;
    • removes toxins from the body, preventing them from entering the liver.
    ethnoscience

    This weed has long been used in folk medicine. On its basis, medicinal drugs are prepared, with the help of which many health problems are eliminated.

    What diseases are treated in folk medicine with wild radish:

    • poor vision;
    • cough;
    • anemia;
    • colds;
    • pain in muscles and joints;
    • arthritis or radiculitis;
    • malaria;
    • scurvy and bleeding gums;
    • sexual impotence in old age;
    • poorly healing (inflamed, festering) wounds;
    • cardiac arrhythmia;
    • prevention of atherosclerosis;
    • decreased lactation during breastfeeding.

    Important!Self-medication with dangerous herbs is unacceptable! You should definitely seek advice from your local physician.

    Who should not use:
    • patients with gastritis;
    • people diagnosed with a stomach ulcer or duodenal ulcer.

    Wild radish leaf salad recipe

    Ingredients for salad.