Natural farming grass Lotus horned. The horned bird is a modest garden decoration in a natural style. Perennial plant, average moisture requirement, easily tolerates both lack of moisture and its excess, winter-hardy, photophilous, undemanding

horned bird (Lotus corniculatus) belongs to the Moth or Legume family (Fabaceae), found in natural places habitats on the territory of Belarus, Ukraine, Russia. The plant is attractive and melliferous, and also hardy. It can be attributed to perennial plants, easy to grow. Especially recommended for people who are starting to work in their own garden. This plant is also used in, especially where meadow clover cannot be used.

Description

Horned Loot - perennial herbaceous plant . The stems are recumbent or ascending, grow up to 40 cm. The flowers are yellow, collected in five-flowered umbellate inflorescences. The roots grow deep - up to 1.5 m, which is an advantage of growing this plant on slopes and cuttings, as a protection against their creeping. Drought and mechanical damage resistant. Rising starts early. At low temperatures, this process slows down, at higher temperatures it grows faster and does not overgrow with weeds. Within 2-3 years, the perennial reaches maturity.

Bloom

The plant blooms for a long time - from May to October. Self-pollinating, but readily visited by insects. The first flowering occurs in the first year of cultivation, in subsequent years it is more intense and repeated, as a rule, 2-3 times per season. The fruits are small, easily bursting pods that ripen unevenly.

Place of cultivation

The natural habitat of the Lotus horned is dry meadows, and therefore, the garden will also need a dry, sunny place. Feels bad in the shade. It likes soils with a weak structure, but can also grow on heavy soils, preferably with an alkaline reaction (pH greater than 7). The bird-foot will feel very good in a rocky garden.

Tolerates quite low temperature(up to -25⁰C), even in snowless winters. Drought also does not threaten him, however, it can slow down the growth of the plant. When grown for seed, drier soil is preferred to limit the growth of the plant, which must spend more energy on flowering and fruiting than on development. a large number leaves.

reproduction

You can independently propagate perennials by tearing off cuttings with a fragment of an older shoot, in autumn period, from September to October (this applies to the Plenus variety). The meadow variety is easily propagated by sowing seeds. The pods, when mature, curl up and make it easier to get the seeds out.

Pests

Lotus horned flowers are sometimes attacked by pests. cause drying and dropping of flowers. In such a case, the first cut should go for fodder, as it often does not reach the point of pod formation, and even if it does, the number of seeds is too small rather small to collect.

Agrotechnics of cultivation

legumes play important role in crop rotation. Too long use of the soil by planting the same species leads to soil fatigue - the accumulation of bacteria, pathogens, root exudates, one-sided depletion of mineral components. As a rule, leguminous plants are used every 2-3 years.

Before growing them, it is necessary to introduce an initial dose of nitrogen and calcium (the soil reaction is alkaline) so that nodules can quickly develop, and further extraction of nitrogen can occur from the atmosphere in symbiosis with nodule bacteria. Elements such as molybdenum, boron and manganese are also important in this process.. Often, for this, the seeds are treated with nitragin. Before sowing, remove, deeply till the soil and mix with fertilizers.

When growing Lotus fodder, about 15 kg of seeds/ha are needed for fodder (when growing for seeds - 6-8 kg/ha). Sowing should be done in rows every 15-20 cm, not very deep (1-3 cm). Lyadvenets can be sown as an independent culture, and together with others, climbing plants. The initial procedure is the grinding of the top layer of soil, and in the process of cultivation, harrowing in the spring.

In the first year after sowing, one mowing is carried out, in subsequent years we carry out mowing before flowering, because of the bitterness in the flowers. In the case of mowing for hay, it does not matter when it is done, since the horned bird loses its bitterness after drying. Seed collection is carried out in the last mowing, when more than half of the pods in the field are dark brown.

Usage

• flowering meadows
• Rustic gardens
• On slopes, slopes
• In crop rotation with other crops
• how fodder plant(only when dried, since fresh flowers contain substances that cause a bitter taste (cyanogenic glycosides) and animals are reluctant to eat it).

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Simple, at first glance, the plant has long been very popular in British folklore.

Cat's claws, bird's paws, eggs with bacon, grandmother's teeth - with what colorful names the British did not reward the curly grassy bush - the horned loon.

Care and cultivation in open ground unpretentious bean does not cause much trouble to the owner suburban area.

It is often planted by beekeepers, because the horned locust is an excellent honey plant.

It is often found in home gardens located on a slope - the tap root system of the plant penetrates more than one and a half meters deep and perfectly protects the soil from slipping and washing out in the direction of the slope.

And, like many legumes, the horned bird is green manure, which helps to improve the fertile qualities of the soil.

Lotus corniculatus is a species of the genus Lotus in the legume family, a perennial herb from 10 to 40 cm high with an ascending or creeping stem.

Leaflets are numerous, trifoliate, arranged alternately along the stem, dotted with sparse thin villi.

Each oval lobule is about 15 mm long.

The corollas are sunny yellow, in some forms with a coral flag, or yellow-scarlet, a typical design for legumes.

Length approximately 15-17 mm. Calyx slightly pubescent or glabrous.

The beans are long and thin, about 25 mm long, containing several miniature kidney-shaped seeds inside.

The buds on the plant are formed for a long time - from the last days of May until the end of autumn.

Subspecies and varieties of the horned loon

In addition to the main type, experts distinguish several subspecies:

• Afghanicus;
• corniculatus;
• Frondosus;
• Fruticosus;

The most widespread in cultural cultivation are some varieties of the horned loon:

1. The sun - with soft thin stems up to 40-50 cm tall, bright green oval-oblong leaves and yellow loose inflorescences;
2. Moskovsky 25 - tolerates winter and flooding with flood waters, drought and waterlogging of the soil;
3. Ray - with erect or semi-sprawling pagons 40-80 cm long and bright yellow umbellate inflorescences of 4-9 flowers;
4. Mozyryanin is a highly bushy variety with stems up to one and a half meters long, soft rough leaves and inflorescences of 5-6 yellow flowers 10-15 mm long;
5. Isis is a medium-branched plant with obovate leaves and inflorescences 3-8 cm long;
6. Rakovsky - with thin stems 90 cm long, slightly pubescent leaves and racemose inflorescences of bright yellow color;
7. Emerald - with hairless, slightly branched shoots 40-60 cm long and yellow inflorescences.

Where to plant a horned bird in the garden

AT natural conditions the plant lives in dry meadows under the scorching sun, and therefore in home cultivation an open sunny area is selected for it.

In partial shade, the plant develops poorly, does not give such a branched tillering and lush flowering like in a sunlit place.

Prefers loose alkaline soils.

Heavy clay soil on a personal plot, it is facilitated by good drainage in the garden where it is planned to plant a horned loofah.

It grows well on dry and depleted stony soil, blooms together and builds up a dense green mass.

The preparation of beds for perennial crops has been done since autumn. Mineral fertilizers are applied for digging, with an emphasis on potassium and nitrogen.

Right before sowing upper layer the soil is loosened with a rake, weeds that have risen by the time of planting are removed.

Growing Lotus Horned from Seeds

Sowing from seeds, like most legumes, is done in mid-spring, when the soil warms up to 10-12 degrees Celsius.

If the plant is sown on green manure or near an apiary, the same seeding rates are followed as for any fodder grass from the Legume family - approximately 60-80 g per 1 hundred square meters of land.

The distance between the rows is kept 15-20 cm, and the embedment depth is not more than 1-3 cm.

Sometimes the horned bird is sown mixed with other herbs, if the goal is to arrange a meadow in a natural style on the site.

Often the plant is used as a lawn, and then the sowing is carried out more densely, although the perennial horned bird grows with each growing season, completely covering the soil.

Reproduction by cuttings

Vegetative reproduction used for rooting a small number of plants to be grown in a small garden, for example, on an alpine hill.

Cuttings are carried out in the fall, around September or October.

Parts of shoots up to 20 cm long are cut and buried in loose nutrient soil right on the bed in open ground.

Water a little and keep the ground in the hole with the plant constantly moist until rooting.

Regular watering is slightly reduced when the first signs of root formation appear - the formation of young leaves on the top of the cutting.

Caring for plantings of the horned loon

The plant does not need regular watering. Usually it lacks sedimentary moisture. In extreme heat, the lower leaves dry up, and the perennial gratefully accepts sprinkling.

On the eve of flowering, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied to achieve numerous bud formation.

During the growing season, the plant is fertilized a couple more times between the next waves of flower stalks.

The horned lotus hibernates well in the open ground without shelter and does not freeze even in snowless cold with a significant and prolonged drop in temperature to 25 degrees below zero.

If the plant is used as pet food, then it is mowed before flowering, because the flowers have a bitter taste due to the presence of glycosides in them.

However, after drying, the bitterness disappears, and the perennial is harvested for hay at any time of the growing season.

Seeds are collected when the pods turn dark brown.

Diseases and pests of the horned locust

In early May, the wavy flea beetle (Phyllotreta undulata) and the light-legged striped flea beetle (Phyllotreta nemorum) dominate on Lotus horned with 2–3 individuals per plant.

They feed on young leaves, gnawing small through holes in them.

The females lay their eggs in the soil. At the end of July, beetles of a new generation appear and are found until September.

The harmfulness of fleas increases in dry, hot weather.

The plant is damaged by several species of weevils: clover weevil (Apion apricans), striped nodule weevil (Sitona lineatus), bristly nodule weevil (Sitona crinitus).

The clover seed-eater first damages the leaves, and then the buds and flowers. The larvae feed inside the inflorescences for 16–24 days. Nodule weevils eat leaves, and larvae damage perennial nodules.

In pest control, decis, actellik, karate are used.

To most diseases of leguminous crops, the horned bird is resistant. With prolonged drought sheds leaves.

Horned bird in landscape design

The plant is considered one of the popular alternatives to the lawn, it covers the soil remarkably, curls, grows well after regular mowing.

Planted in small spots, the horned locust effectively decorates alpine slide, especially since it tolerates poor stony soil well.

Arranging a garden in a natural style is also not complete without this plant.

Modest flowers fill the lawns with sunny reflections, made to interpret the steppe or meadow landscape.

The discreet perennial has many useful qualities in support of its cultivation in the garden.

The plant and honey plant are beautiful, and green manure, and the ground cover is excellent, used as a lawn, and a healer with medicinal properties.

Cultivation in the open ground of the horned locust does not require the owner personal plot special knowledge of agricultural technology. Plant care is minimal, and the benefits of using in landscape design undoubted.

The horned bird is frost-hardy and winter-hardy. The horned bird is considered one of the best fodder grasses. Its hay is more nutritious than clover hay. The horned bird has high resistance to adverse weather conditions and high longevity: it can grow in one field for 5 years or more.

horned bird- most shade plant from perennial legumes. This gives him the opportunity to form dense grass stands, from which up to 30 tons of green mass per hectare can be collected in one mowing. Unlike clover, high temperatures horned loofah tolerates overheating well. The leaves of the Lotus Horned Lotus remain in good condition throughout the hot day.

Stem- ascending or ascending, sometimes recumbent. Their height is from 10 to 40 cm, and with good care and nutrition - from 60 to 80 cm. The stems form a dense bush. The number of shoots in the bush increases in the 3rd year of life.

Root- rod with powerful branched lateral roots. root system penetrates to a depth of up to 1.5 meters. The root neck is usually located at a depth of 1.5 to 2 cm.

Leaves- alternate, petiolate, trifoliate, with well-defined stipules.

Stipules- pointed, leaflets up to 15 mm. long, ovoid.

inflorescences- umbellate, usually five-flowered. The flowers are up to 15 mm long, and the color is bright yellow.

Bloom- long: it lasts from late spring to late autumn.

Fetus- straight multi-seeded bean, having a length of up to 25 mm and cracking when ripe.

Honeybees willingly collect nectar from the flowers of the horned loofah, but honey productivity is low: only up to 15 kg per hectare of solid crops.

seeds- dark brown in color and rounded.

The most widespread in Russia are the following varieties of horned loofah: Ray, Smolensky 1 and Sun.

horned bird it is not very demanding on soils, it grows well on sandy and loamy soils, can tolerate soil salinity, and is suitable even for sowing on acidic soils.

Sowing. The horned bird is recommended to be sown in a mixture with other species. perennial herbs, moreover, when sown in grass mixtures, the seeds of the horned loaf should be approximately 30%% of the seeds of leguminous grasses. It is recommended to scarify the seeds of the Lotus Horned before sowing.

After sowing, it develops slowly from 1.5 to 2 months. Seedlings appear approximately 15-25 days after sowing. But already in the second year of life grows in early spring, and its vegetation continues until late autumn. In the non-flowering state, the horned locust is well eaten by animals. The horned bird reaches its greatest development in the 2nd - 3rd year of life.

Care. It comes down to weeding and loosening row spacing, as well as mulching.

Cleaning. If the Lotus Horned is sown in its pure form, it is harvested for hay before flowering.

Getting seeds. For the seeds of the horned lobe, you need to mow when the beans turn brown on the main shoots. Completely dried beans crack and release the seeds. The horned bird's eye, when harvested in a timely manner, yields from 300 to 400 kg of seeds per hectare.

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The horned bird is a perennial legume that grows in natural cenoses on all types of continental meadows. Can be cultivated on soils unsuitable for other perennial legumes.

Varieties. The horned bird is differentiated into varieties of different ripeness groups - from early ripening to late ripening. For 2016 in State Register 4 varieties are allowed for cultivation on the territory of the Republic of Belarus: Izumrud, Mozyryanin, Rakovsky and Isis. Emerald belongs to the group of early-ripening varieties, Mozyryanin and Rakovsky are mid-ripening varieties, Isis is a medium-late variety.

Soils. The horned bird is not picky about soil fertility, it is resistant to increased acidity of the plow and subplow horizons. High yields gives when placed on moist loamy and drained peat-bog soils with a level ground water 60-100 cm. Can be cultivated on gley, sandy and sandy soils. It is not recommended to cultivate on wet lowland and swampy meadows with a groundwater level of 30-40 cm and above.

Predecessors. All crops except legumes. Replanting of degraded meadowlands is being carried out accelerated way grass mixtures with the participation of the horned bird. In the presence on hayfields and pastures of soddy pike, rhizomatous and densely bushy species of sedge, field and bristly watercress, creeping ranunculus and others weeds replanting is carried out with a preliminary period (1-2 years) of cultivation of annual field crops.

Soil cultivation. The system of cultivation for the horned bird depends on the predecessors, the type of soil, the timing and methods of sowing. Weed control should begin during the care of the previous crop. After harvesting the grain crop, a prerequisite effective fight with weeds is stubble breaking and plowing. When the soil is clogged with couch grass, 15-20 days before plowing, glyphosate-containing herbicides (roundup, 36% w.r. - 4-6 l/ha, etc.) are used at a couch grass height of 10-15 cm, and root shoot weeds- at the time of formation of sockets.

In old-sown meadows, for the destruction of weeds and cutting sods of medium and large thickness, a combined tillage is carried out, including chemical method weed control in weedy areas. On heavy soils, as well as with a close location of the compacted layer, the use of combined tillage with soil deepening is most effective. This activates the symbiotic activity of the microflora with non-traditional perennial legumes in the fodder crop rotation. On poorly cultivated meadows with a close location of the podzolic horizon, the presence of undecomposed wood pulp in the soil, non-moldboard cultivation is used.

Fertilizers. Application mineral fertilizers depends on the planned yield of Lotus horned and content nutrients in the soil. Phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied annually in one step. With a high supply of soils with mobile forms of phosphorus and exchangeable potassium, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied under the bird-foot in a dose of P 30 K 60. On medium soils, their dose is P 40-60 K 60-90.

To improve nitrogen metabolism and the vital activity of microorganisms, it is necessary to use molybdenum-containing fertilizers. The most effective pre-sowing treatment of seeds with molybdenum with a consumption rate of 150-200 g / c.a., for foliar feeding- 75-100 g/ha a.i. on weakened grass stands after emerging from under the cover, or after 15-20 days from the beginning of spring regrowth. Boric fertilizers used as for pre-sowing treatment of seeds 20-40 g/c d.v. boron, and for foliar feeding of seed plants - 100-120 g/ha of a.i. at the start of plant budding. Under the predecessor, it is desirable to add organic fertilizers: on cultivated loamy soils - 30-40 t / ha of bedding manure, on sandy loamy soils - 40-50, on sandy soils - 60-80 t / ha. Semi-liquid and liquid manure, respectively, in an equivalent amount in terms of nitrogen content.

Preparing seeds for sowing. On the mineral soils where clover is grown more frequently, seed inoculation is not necessary. On reclaimed peat-bog soils, where leguminous herbs have never been grown, seeds are inoculated with bacterial preparations (sapronit -200 g/c of ​​seeds). In their absence, it is possible to dust the seeds with soil sifted through a sieve from old-growth crops of lotus or clover - 50-100 g per hectare norm of seeds.

Sowing. best term Lotus horned sowing is early spring under the cover of annual grasses harvested for silage, haylage or green top dressing no later than two months from germination, or uncovered in summer period. From annual herbs, oats in their pure form and its mixtures with vetch or pelushka are better suited. When annual ryegrass is used as a cover crop, two cuts of the cover crop are carried out: the first one 30-35 days after sowing, the second one 30 days later.

Spring cereals as cover crops are not suitable for the bird's eye as it does not withstand the post-emergence herbicides used on cereals. As a result, the death of the Lotus under their cover reaches 80-100%.

Coverless sowing is carried out from June 1 to July 15. Let's assume that the sowing of the lozenge before August 5, however, the yield of the first cut in the second year of the life of the herbage will be 2 times lower than when sowing in optimal timing. In the third year of life, the productivity of the herbage will be restored.

It is allowed to sow the bird-foot and its mixtures with cereal grasses after harvesting winter catch crops for fodder in mid-June. At the same time, by mid-September, up to 150 c/ha of green mass will be additionally formed. This mass can be used as green fodder for livestock, haylage or silage.

Seeding rate for fodder purposes at 100% sowing suitability - 5.0-6.5 million pcs/ha (6-8 kg/ha) in a row way, for seeds - 3.5-4.0 million pcs/ha ha (4-5 kg/ha). With coverless sowings in the first half of July, the seeding rate is increased by 20-25%, since under conditions of often noted moisture deficiency in the soil, field germination decreases. Timothy grass is the best cereal component in a mixture with bird-foot, which is similar to it in terms of growth and development in the spring. Its seeding rate in a mixture of 5.5 - 6.0 million units / ha (3-3.5 kg / ha). Optimal depth incorporation of seeds on loamy soils - up to 1 cm, on sandy and sandy soils - up to 1.5-2 cm. When planting seeds of a loam for 5 cm, field germination is not higher than 5%.

Care. If the cover crop has died, it should be removed for forage immediately. If the Lotusfoot plants are poorly developed, after harvesting the cover crop, it is recommended to carry out foliar top dressing ammonium molybdate at a dose of 150-200 g/ha, and on soils poorly supplied with phosphorus and potassium, crops are additionally fed with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers at a dose of P 30 K 40.

With early harvesting of cover crops and favorable weather conditions the crops of the sunflower grow intensively. Overgrown herbage must be mowed at a height of 10-12 cm no later than 30 days before the end of the growing season. If during these periods (end of August - mid-September) the grasses are not cut, they are harvested in the third decade of October, after the cessation of vegetation.

In case of coverless sowing of the Lotus for seed purposes, it is effective to use the soil herbicide Tapir, VK (0.75-1.0 l/ha) or Pulsar SL, BP (0.75 l/ha) before sowing. It is permissible to apply these herbicides on seedlings in the phase of 4-6 true leaves of the Lotus at a dose of 0.6-0.7 l/ha. The fight against the next wave of weeds is carried out by mowing the grass stand.

For the second and subsequent years of use, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied at a dose of P 30-60 K 60-90. The use of early spring harrowing of the herbage is necessary to remove stubble and improve soil aeration conditions. The use of herbage with the participation of the bird-foot is terminated no later than 30 days before the end of the growing season. When the herbage overgrows, before leaving for the winter - in late October - early November, the aftermath is cut.

Cleaning. At favorable conditions the horned loon provides 3 full cuts. The mowing height of the herbage is not lower than 10-12 cm. The productivity of grass stands on average for four years of use with this mowing mode varies depending on the variety within the range of 351 - 446 centners / ha of green mass, 72.0 - 90.9 centners / ha of dry matter, 61.2 - 77.3 centners / ha of dry matter. ha of fodder units and 12.2 - 15.4 c/ha of crude protein.

The green mass is used for livestock feed before the flowering phase, and in the flowering phase it is used for haylage and hay, during the harvesting of which the cyanogenic glycoside is destroyed. Livestock grazing on pastures with the participation of the horned loof must be carried out before flowering. It is advisable to mow the herbage in the flowering phase, and use the mass for fodder.

Seed production. It is better to lay seed plants on loamy and sandy soils on a moraine. When it is placed on sandy soils underlain by sands, plants do not set beans during the drought period, and the set beans fall off. Lotus testes are used for two years. Seeds are harvested only from the first mowing.

Until the seeds are fully ripe, the plants remain green. Seed ripening is uneven, and ripened beans crack. Often the testes are strongly lodged, with tangled herbage. So the best way harvesting Lotus horned is a separate method. The testes are cut into swaths by frontal mowers at 50-60% browned beans. Therefore, timely threshing of windrows significantly reduces seed losses.

A sparse and non-lost testis can be removed by direct combining with preliminary (2-5 days) desiccation of the herbage with reglon at a dose of 3 l/ha. Reglon treatment period - browning of 50% of beans

(Lotus corniculatus L.)

The horned bird is a perennial herbaceous plant of the legume family (Fabaceae), up to 60 cm in height, with a long taproot and numerous lying and ascending stems. Leaves pinnate, sessile, with obovate leaflets. The flowers are golden yellow, on short pedicels, 3-5 collected in umbellate inflorescences. The fruit is a linear, cylindrical bean. Blossoms in May - September, fruits ripen in July - September. It grows on sandy and loamy dry and fresh soils in pine and mixed forests, in glades, along roadsides, upland meadows.

Collection and drying of raw materials. Medicinal raw materials is grass. The most pronounced medicinal properties appear when collecting plants in June, the smallest - in July and especially in September. Air dry in the shade, in well-ventilated areas or in dryers.

Chemical composition. The aerial part, harvested before flowering, contains 33% protein, 35% fat, 24% nitrogen-free extractives, 27.5% fiber. During the flowering period, the plant has a bitter taste, toxic, due to the presence of a glycoside that cleaves hydrocyanic acid. In the leaves before flowering, more than 100 mg% of ascorbic acid and 5-8 mg% of carotene were found per wet weight.

Pharmacological properties. The plant has a wound-healing, emollient, analgesic, soothing, tonic and tonic effect.

Application in medicine. Aboveground part. Decoction - at colds; externally - wound healing, emollient and analgesic.

Leaves. Astringent. In the Caucasus - with rabies.

Flowers. Soothing, restorative in the phase of convalescence, tonic in case of fatigue.

Dosage forms, method of administration and doses. * A decoction of the herb of the lodventsa: 1 tablespoon of the raw material is poured into 200 ml of water, boiled for 10 minutes, insisted for 15 minutes, then filtered. Take 1/4 cup 2-3 times a day.

Contraindications and possible side effects : The plant is poisonous during the flowering period, so care must be taken when using it internally.

During the flowering period of the plant, cases of poisoning of animals are possible (more often - small cattle and geese). In case of poisoning, excitation is noted first, then convulsions, unsteady gait, shortness of breath, weakness of cardiac activity and death. As a result of violation of intracellular respiration, oxygen is not assimilated by the cells of the body and accumulates in the blood. Therefore, venous blood, like arterial blood, becomes scarlet, and visible mucous membranes appear pink. There may also be inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract.

Application in other areas. The flowers of the Lotus horned give a yellow color. Unripe fruits are sometimes eaten. Animal food. Honey plant. Forage, well eaten by all types of farm animals in hay, in the form of silage and fresh in the pasture. In the latter case, it is eaten only before flowering. In terms of nutritional value, the horned bird is close to blue alfalfa and red clover. lactogenic. Decorative, can be recommended as a substitute lawn grasses when landscaping slopes and fields in parks and gardens. Cultivated in many countries. There are varieties. Honey plant.