Purple flowers Ivan da Marya. Ivan da Marya: the healing power of a beautiful flower. Sem. minnows - scrophulariaceae - oak maryannik, Ivan da Marya - melampyrum nemorosum l

It so happened that many people have heard about the Ivan da Marya flower, but few people have at least some idea about it. But the contrasting beauty of this plant can be a highlight in any garden. And besides, the flower will be at hand if there is a need to use its healing properties. The article will help to understand the features of the medicinal plant, and the attached photos will allow you to enjoy the beauty of the flower.

Ivan da Marya: legends and traditions

Knowledge about the Ivan da Marya flower goes back centuries. In pagan times, the Slavic ancestors called the flower Kupala da Mavka. Only with the advent of Christianity did he acquire a new name, which has survived to this day.

According to East Slavic myths, a brother and sister lived in the world - Kupala and Kostroma, separated by chance and parental disobedience in childhood. After many years, an unfortunate accident brought them together again, but they did not know about their relationship, and fell in love with each other. And only after the wedding did they find out that their hearts were bound by forbidden love. The bitter truth forced the brother and sister to choose between death and disgrace. They chose death - Kostroma drowned herself in the depths of a forest lake, and became the first Mavka mermaid, and Kupala threw himself into the heat of the fire.

The gods, looking at such a tragedy, took pity and turned the brother and sister into a beautiful flower - partly blue, like water, partly yellow, like fire. With the advent of Christianity, Kupala was renamed Ivan (in honor of John the Baptist), and Mavka, his miserable sister, was named Mary, in honor of the Virgin.

Medicinal plant in natural conditions

Rumor gives magic to a two-faced flower plucked on the day of the summer solstice (on the Kupala holiday):

helps to escape from persecution to a person wearing it with him;
the owner of a marvelous plant will be able to move quickly, even if there is an old horse under him (in the modern interpretation, he will help the racer in any car);
freshly squeezed juice of the plant was given to drink to people who had lost their memory or reason;
keeping a mystical plant in the house helps protect the home from evil intentions and spirits;
acts as a keeper of peace between husband and wife.

Botanical features of the Ivan da Marya flower

An annual herbaceous plant from the extensive Norichnikovye family, preferring partial shade in forests and groves. Of this family, two species grow in central Russia: Maryannik oak and Maryannik meadow.

It grows in height from 10 to 50 cm. Moreover, the height of the maryannik directly depends on which plant it “joined”.
The pointed lanceolate leaves of Ivan da Marya are located opposite each other on an erect stem. The inner side of the leaves is equipped with short hairs.
The two-lipped flowers are yellow, and the upper woolly-toothed stipules are colored blue (they are not flowers).
Flowering lasts from June to September.
Ivan da Marya intensively secretes nectar, being an excellent honey plant.
It reproduces mainly by seed. The spread of the plant is facilitated by ants, who love to feast on juicy seeds and take them away.

Attention! Cows cannot be pastured in areas where Ivan da Marya grows, because the plant is poisonous and rich in glycosides. Milk from cows that have eaten maryannik will be bitter and unpleasant in taste.

Preparation and pharmacological properties

In official medicine, preparations containing the Ivan da Marya flower are not used. However, traditional healers use maryannik in their medicinal potions, using recipes that have come down to our days from time immemorial.

For harvesting, the entire aerial part of Ivan da Marya, including its fruits, is used. During the flowering period, the plant is either pulled out with a spine or cut off. Then the medicinal raw materials are dried in the shade or in any room with access to fresh air, spread out in a thin layer on a dry surface, or hung in bunches. The dried flower of Ivan da Marya is stored in a dry room with good ventilation for 2 years in cloth bags.

Ivan da Marya flower is rich in flavonoids and organic acids.

Attention! Mariannik seeds contain the glycoside rinanthin (aucubin), which is toxic.

The medicinal plant has the following effects:

sedative (acts like tranquilizers);
anticonvulsant;
hypotensive;
wound healing;
anti-inflammatory;
has a positive effect on the cardiovascular and nervous systems.

Ivan da Marya: indications for use

In folk medicine, mariannik is widely used to treat scrofula (in the modern interpretation, a type of atopic dermatitis in children). The long-standing use of the plant for the treatment of this ailment is evidenced by one of the popular names of the flower - Scrofula. With this skin lesion, Ivan da Marya is applied externally - the child is washed in a decoction or lotions are made.

Healers use dry crushed maryannik grass as a wound healing and antiseptic agent, preventing putrefactive processes. In the form of an infusion, Ivan da Marya is taken orally for hypertension and heart disease. Herbal tea relieves the condition with neuralgia and epilepsy.

However, treatment should not be started without consulting an experienced herbalist. In case of violation of the dosage and regimen of taking Ivan da Marya, the following manifestations are possible:

discomfort or pain in the stomach;
nausea, vomiting;
irritability;
drowsiness;
slow heart rate;
slowing of the pulse;
weakness.

If one or more of the above symptoms appear, it is necessary to stop using Ivan da Marya, rinse the stomach and seek medical help. It would not be superfluous to recall that Ivan da Marya belongs to poisonous plants, and oral use by pregnant women and children is strictly contraindicated.

Ivan da Marya is a plant common in the European part of Russia and in western Siberia. It has been covered with legends and beliefs since antiquity, largely due to its contrasting color with bright yellow flowers and blue-violet leaves.

The Eastern Slavs believed that earthly and heavenly things were united in this flower: a flower can connect people with the gods. On the day of the celebration of Ivan Kupala, it was torn down, and it became a symbol of sacred marriage between a man and a woman. Yellow is for the groom and blue is for the bride.

This flower is the herb of strength. It is believed that it can help achieve harmony between yin and yang, bring what a person lacks - complete earthly happiness.

Description and use of the plant

Appearance

Ivan da Marya flower is a herbaceous annual plant. It can be found in meadows, forest clearings, near bushes, on the edge of the forest, near swamps. Botanical designation - Melampyrum nemorosum L. The people have different names: oak maryannik, brother and sister, honeydew, yellowberry, fireflower, jaundice, willow grass, meadow bell ...

The fruit of the plant is an egg-shaped box, similar to a grain of wheat. These seeds are spread by ants, dragging them along the ground. Therefore, dense thickets of this grass are often found along ant paths in the forest.

This plant is an excellent honey plant, but poisonous. Its ground part contains alkaloids and glycosides. The seeds are the most dangerous. Dosage forms from it must be taken carefully.

Today, modern pharmacology is engaged in a deeper study of the plant.

Application in medical practice

The herb Ivan da Marya has long been widely used in folk medicine. It is used in the form of lotions, decoctions, infusions and baths in the treatment of:

skin diseases
neuralgia
hypertension
dizziness
heart disease
diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

Mariannik oakwood has a wound-healing, anti-inflammatory, insecticidal effect. Fruits with seeds and the ground part of the plant are used.

Successfully treated with herbs:

epilepsy
depression
scabies
diathesis
lupus
rheumatism.

There are no specific contraindications. Not recommended for pregnant women and people prone to allergies. Grass is harvested during the flowering period, which lasts from May to September. Drying is carried out in a room that is well ventilated. Dry raw materials are stored for ten months.

The infusion of the flower is used as an effective remedy for baths and washings. For this, usually 3 tbsp. spoons of dry grass pour 1 liter of boiling water and leave for two hours, then filter.

An infusion of a flower for the treatment of hypertension, heart disease, stomach and neuralgia is prepared from 1 tbsp. spoons of grass, filled with 1 cup boiling water. After half an hour, filter and take 2 times a day for ½ cup.

Externally, a powder of crushed grass is used to heal wounds.

A decoction of the fruits of the plant is used to combat harmful insects.

However, we must remember that the plant is very poisonous, and take precautions.

This plant is believed to have magical properties. Last grass they plucked it on the day of the summer solstice and kept it with them as a means of protection: there was a belief that the flower would protect from the chase and dangerous people. To protect against thieves and evil spirits, Ivan da Marya flowers were placed in the corners of the house.

Fresh juice from a flower was given to people who lost their hearing or reason. It was believed that the presence of this grass in the house did not allow quarrels and disagreements between spouses.

And in our enlightened time, people believe that in order to find beauty and well-being, it is necessary to take a steam bath on Ivan Kupala in a bathhouse with a broom of Ivan da Marya grass.

legends

The Ivan da Marya flower has always been considered a symbol of fidelity and love among the people. There are many legends about the origin of the name of this flower. The most common of them is about Kupala and Kostroma. The legend told that once on the day of the summer solstice, the god of the hearth, Semarg, saw the goddess of the night Bathing suit on the banks of the river Ra (Volga) and fell in love. Their children were born: son Kupala and daughter Kostroma.

It so happened that the swan geese stole Kupala and took it to distant lands. Many years have passed since then. Once the beautiful Kostroma was walking along the river bank, braided a wreath and put it on her head. She told her friends that no one would ever tear a wreath from her head (that is, she would never marry). The gods were angry with her for these words. The wind blew the wreath from her head. The wreath fell into the river. At that time, he sailed past on Kupala's boat and picked up a wreath. According to custom, they were supposed to get married. Only after the wedding did they find out that they were brother and sister, but they had already managed to fall in love with each other. Then, in order not to part, they decided to drown themselves. The gods took pity on them and turned them into a plant Ivan da Marya. Since then, they have always been together.

Grass Ivan da Marya in the country

Currently a flower oak maryannik, so beautifully named by the people and fanned by the legends of our ancestors, finds the greatest use only in folk medicine.

ivan da maria flower

Ivan da Marya is a name that is used in relation to several completely different types of plants. They can call tricolor violet, meadow sage, periwinkle, Geneva tenacious, but most often under this name they understand oak maryannik.

Ivan da Marya flower: description

The inflorescence is an apical, rare-colored spicate raceme. Bracts opposite, ovate-cordate, pointed with teeth, pubescent at the base and along the veins. The bracts of the lower part of the inflorescence are green, the middle one is blue-violet at the base, the upper ones are completely purple.

The calyx is tubular with long-pointed teeth (about half the length of the calyx). The flowers are irregular, the pedicels are small, pubescent, turned in one direction. Corolla two-lipped, yellow, with reddish tube and lower lip.

Flowering time is from May to September. It grows in clearings and edges, in oak forests, among shrubs, in marshy meadows.

The flower got its popular name because of the sharp contrast of the yellow corolla and purple bracts. There are many varieties of legends that explain this phenomenon, and all of them are united by the plot of the tragic love of the young man Ivan and the beautiful Marya (in earlier versions - Kupala and Kostroma).

The yellow color of the flower was attributed to the boy, and purple - to the girl. The reasons why young people did not have a fate are different for different stories, but since then these interesting bright flowers have been growing and delighting people.

It is not a pharmacopoeial plant, although it is considered promising for pharmacological research. Its use of the Ivan da Marya flower is known as an insecticidal, anti-inflammatory and wound healing among the people. On the farm, a decoction of seeds was previously used to dye fabrics yellow, as well as to fight insects.

Benefits and harms to human health

The plant is poisonous. Its ground part contains alkaloids and glycosides, including aucubin and dulcite. Especially poisonous seeds. It can cause severe poisoning also in animals that eat it. Take internally - carefully.

Known benefits of Ivan da Marya flower for the body in diseases of the heart, gastrointestinal tract and stomach, hypertension, epilepsy, neuralgia. Outwardly, it is recommended to use it for scabies, diathesis, skin tuberculosis, rashes, rheumatism, for washing wounds. Maryannikovy tea is drunk with scrofula.

You need to use exactly according to the instructions. Failure to comply with the dosage can harm a person. The main manifestations of overdose and poisoning:

weakness;
pain in the stomach, behind the sternum;
nausea and vomiting;
drowsiness;
weakened cardiac activity.

Treatment in this case: gastric lavage, sorbents, if necessary - symptomatic therapy (caffeine, validol, nitroglycerin, etc.).

It has been scientifically proven that the infusion of Ivan da Marya flower has a calming effect similar to that of tranquilizers. It will be useful for the treatment of the initial stage of epilepsy.

Contraindications

It has no precisely defined contraindications, but as a poisonous plant it is not recommended to be used internally by pregnant women, children and with individual intolerance.

Application of the herb Ivan da Marya

Ivan da Marya flower extracts have antipsychotic properties. They have sedative, hypotensive cardiac, and anticonvulsant effects. Externally used for skin diseases, powder from a dried plant, as well as juice from a fresh one - for wound healing.

For skin diseases

The Ivan da Marya plant has long been used for skin diseases: rashes of various etiologies, eczema, skin tuberculosis, demodicosis, scabies, scrofula. For baths, as well as local washings, an infusion is used.

Tincture recipe: 3 tablespoons of herbs must be poured into 1 liter of boiling water and insisted for 2 hours, then strained.

It also bathes children with diathesis.
Also, poultices are made from grass to places affected by scabies and hard tumors. The juice or dried powder of the plant was used to promote wound healing.

Tincture for heart disease

In the form of tincture, Ivan da Marya is used for pain in the heart caused by vasospasm. It also has a general strengthening effect on the cardiovascular system and stimulates the nervous system.

Mariannik tincture recipe: 1.5 tablespoons of raw materials must be poured into 0.5 liters of vodka, insist, shaking occasionally for 2 weeks.

You need to drink 2-3 weeks, 1 tablespoon 3 times a day, then you should take a 1-week break, then continue treatment.

pressure decoction recipe

A decoction or infusion of the herb Ivan da Marya is drunk for hypertension. You can also use the Ivan da Marya tincture prepared according to the recipe indicated above under pressure.

1 tablespoon of grass is poured with 1 cup of boiling water, leave for 30 minutes, strain thoroughly and drink 1 tablespoon 3 times a day;
10-20 g of raw materials must be poured with 200 g of water, insisted on a water bath for 30 minutes, strain the broth and add boiled water to the original volume. Drink 1 tablespoon 2-3 times a day.

Tinctures for neuralgia and epilepsy

Plant preparations are effective for epilepsy. At the initial stage of the disease, the infusion of the flower is used for treatment, and at later stages - as an additional means to relieve convulsions, which makes it possible to reduce the dose of anticonvulsant drugs consumed. A decoction of the flower should be drunk half a glass 2 times a day.
With neuralgia, baths are made from the infusion and decoctions of the Ivan da Marya plant.

Application during pregnancy

Under stress

The action of the active substances of maryannik is mainly aimed at the nervous and cardiovascular systems. It is recommended to drink infusion and tincture during stress, depression, and in fact they are the main cause of many women's diseases. Also, a flower as part of a complex collection is used in the treatment of female benign formations.

From diseases of the intestines and stomach

An infusion of the herb Ivan da Marya for the stomach is drunk twice a day for half a glass. It helps with inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

Plant collection and harvesting

The ground part of the maryannik, which is used as a raw material, should be harvested during active flowering (May - September). It can be cut or pulled straight out with a weakly developed root. Dry - in a place closed from direct sunlight, which, moreover, should be well ventilated. You can store up to 10 months, preferably in paper bags or glass containers. Fruits (boxes) can be harvested as they ripen from July to September.

Ivan da Marya is a very beautiful and delicate plant. According to legend, a boy and a girl turned into this flower, who loved each other very much and did not want to be separated. The flower is a symbol of fidelity. The people also call it: well-marked grass, linden, meadow bell, jaundice. The name combines several herbaceous plants with a rather peculiar root system, an upright stem. The plant can reach a height of 50 cm.

Description: Ivan da Marya is the union of two herbaceous plants whose flowers have two distinctive bright colors, usually yellow and purple or blue.

Spreading

The plant has a European distribution area. It grows in the forest and forest-steppe European part of Russia, in western Ukraine, in the Caucasus, in Siberia. Most often on chalk slopes, in forests, in wet peat meadows.

Flowering, collection and harvesting

Ivan da Marya blooms with yellow and blue flowers. Flowering period is from June to September. In September, fruits appear on the plant in the form of small boxes with seeds.

As a raw material for decoctions and tinctures, the aerial part of the plant is used, that is: stems, flowers, leaves and fruits.

The collection is carried out during the flowering period, cutting off the stems with a sharp knife, pinching off the leaves and flowers. Accordingly, if the fruits of the plant are needed, then they should wait until they are fully ripe.

Dry the raw material in a dark, cool, ventilated place, spreading it on a cloth or newspaper in an even layer.

Store prepared dry raw materials should be no more than 10 months.

Application

Ivan da Marya is not so much an ornamental plant as a medicinal one. It is applied as:

anti-inflammatory;
healing;
insecticidal.

The following diseases are treated with decoction:

diathesis;
eczema;
scabies;
lupus;
rheumatism;
epilepsy;
wounds of various origins;
heart problems;
problems of the gastrointestinal tract.

Recipes

For the treatment of skin diseases, such as scabies, eczema or diathesis, it is necessary to take baths with herbal infusion. To prepare the infusion 3 tbsp. raw materials are poured with a liter of boiling water. Insist for 2 hours. After filtering and pour into a bath with warm water. It is necessary to apply the bath for about 30 minutes, 3-4 times a week.

Heart problems, dizziness, neuralgia, epilepsy, diseases of the intestines and stomach treated with infusion according to the following recipe: 1 tbsp. raw materials are poured with a glass of boiling water. I insist 30 minutes in a thermos or in an insulated container. Strain and take half a glass several times a day.

For the treatment of open wounds, fresh, finely chopped Ivan da Marya grass is used. She is given a state of slurry and applied to the affected area.

Application restrictions

As such, the plant has no contraindications, but it should be remembered that in large quantities, the Ivan da Marya plant is very poisonous. Accordingly, it is necessary to follow the exact recipe in the manufacture of decoctions.

Overdose symptoms are:

dizziness;
weakness;
nausea and vomiting;
drowsiness.

If you experience the above symptoms, you should immediately consult a doctor.

We will use here and below the names rather folk than strictly botanical. Folk names: mariannika oakwood- Ivan da Marya, Ivanets, Ivanova grass, maryannik, brother and sister, pansies, two-flowered, yellowberry, scrofulous grass, fireflower; mariannika meadow- Petrovsky grass, magpie shavings, field cornflowers, kusharka, lucrets, jaundice; mariannika forest- oppression, mare grass; mariannika field- vertebrae, bell, Ivan da Marya, yellowhead, field grass.

Properties and application of Ivan da Marya

List of symbols

Photo by L. Golovneva - Oak maryannik

General information about the plant Ivan da Marya

Mariannik Dubravny (Melampyrum nemorosum L.) is an annual herbaceous plant with a pubescent stem. Leaves opposite, ovate-lanceolate. The flowers are light yellow, two-lipped, collected in spike-shaped inflorescences. The fruit is an ovoid capsule. Seeds are large, oblong, brown or almost black. Plant height - 15-60 cm.

Photo by L. Golovneva - Oak maryannik, variety

The plant is distinguished by a particularly striking contrast of bracts of blue tones and bright yellow corollas. It is very decorative, therefore it often attracted the attention of painters and poets, but when plucked into bouquets, it quickly fades. The flowers of Ivan da Marya produce abundant nectar and are deservedly considered a good honey plant.

The name Ivan da Marya in different areas can be given to several (different) herbaceous plants, the flowers of which (or the upper parts of the whole plant) are distinguished by the presence of two sharply distinguishable colors, most often yellow and blue or purple. Most often, the word Ivan da Marya is called the oak maryannik, less often the tricolor violet. Even less often, this name is given to meadow sage and periwinkle - they also have two brightly different colors.

Oak maryannik is found in the northern, middle and southwestern zones of the European part of Russia. It grows in forest clearings (sometimes in large massifs), forest edges, hills, in thickets of shrubs, marshy meadows and chalk slopes. The most common plant in our meadows, clearings and edges of deciduous forests, where it blooms from late spring to early autumn (May-September).

Five types of maryannik grow in our zone: oak maryannik(M. nemorosum L.); maryannik field(M. arvensis L.); maryannik meadow(M. pratense L.); maryannik forest(M. silvaticum L.) and split mariannik(M. laciniatum Kosh).

In the photo - Mariannik meadow

In the photo - Maryannik forest

The most common maryanniki: meadow and cut. Mariannik meadow is very similar to Ivan da Marya, but only it does not have purple leaves, and the flowers are almost white. This type of maryannik is typical for coniferous forests, although it has the specific name "meadow".

In the photo - Mariannik field

Legends and traditions

Many legends associated with Ivan da Marya are dedicated to the symbolism of forbidden love. This is the tragic story of Kostroma and Kupala (Ivan and Marya), who fell in love with each other, not even suspecting that they were brother and sister. When they found out about this, Kupala threw himself into the fire (yellow flower of the plant), and Kostroma drowned himself (blue flower), after which they were reborn in the form of this plant. According to another version: Ivan-Kupala has a purple shirt, and Marya-Kostroma has a yellow handkerchief. Previously, this herb was called Kupala da Mavka. (sometimes Navka, i.e. mermaid - V.S.) - drowned Kostroma, which turned into a mermaid.

This story is directly timed to coincide with the Kupala holiday. It is on this day that the Ivan da Marya plant is torn, which has special properties.

Features of Ivan da Marya

Ivan da Marya (Oak Maryannik) and its healing properties

The plant is poisonous. The internal use of maryanniki, as poisonous plants, requires great care. It is known that the plant contains traces of alkaloids, glucoside melompicrite (dulcite), and in the seeds - a very poisonous glucoside rinanthin (aucubin), which has a narcotic and local irritant effect. In case of seed poisoning, weakness, drowsiness are observed, and cardiac activity is weakened.

Poisoning of sheep and horses can be observed when they are fed with grain and flour contaminated with maryannik seeds. Sick animals become drowsy, tremble, blood appears in their urine, and a heartbeat is noted. First aid consists in prescribing laxatives first, and then in conducting a course of symptomatic therapy (stimulating, cardiac, etc.).

Currently, Ivan da Marya is used only in traditional medicine.

Infusion of Ivan da Marya

Infusion of herbs Ivan da Marya is used as an effective remedy for baths and local washings in the treatment of various rashes, diathesis, eczema, skin tuberculosis, scabies, demodicosis, rheumatism. To prepare the infusion 3 tbsp. l. maryannik is poured with 1 liter of boiling water and, after insisting for about 2 hours, filtered.

In the treatment of hypertension, dizziness, heart disease, neuralgia, epilepsy, diseases of the stomach and gastrointestinal tract, another infusion of oak maryannik is used. For its preparation 1 tbsp. l. herbs are poured with a glass of boiling water, then insisted for half an hour and, after straining, take half a glass twice a day.

A decoction of the fruits of Ivan da Marya

A decoction of fruits destroy harmful insects. Incl. can be used to disinfect the land of indoor plants. Attention! A decoction of the fruit of this plant is poisonous.

Shredded parts of Ivan da Marya

With the help of fresh chopped grass and its powder, the process of wound healing (disinfection) is accelerated.

Special and magical properties

It is believed that the magical properties of this plant, which is plucked on the summer solstice, are that it helps to escape the chase of the one who keeps it with him. There is also a belief that a person who has this flower with him can drive fast even on an old horse. Previously, Ivan da Marya was carried by messengers and scouts (scouts). In addition, fresh juice squeezed from this flower was given to drink to those who lost their hearing or mind, memory, or reason (Beware - the plant is poisonous - V.S.). The flowers of Ivan da Marya, collected on Kupala and stored in the house, protect the house from people with bad intentions, evil spirits (anti-demonic grass) and restore harmony between spouses. The flowers of this plant are placed in the corners of the house. Such a ritual helps protect the home from thieves as well.

Illustrations botanical

Mariannik oakwood

Mariannik meadow

Mariannik field

Mariannik forest

Categories

Popular