Chubby fragrant
Asperula odorata
A perennial herbaceous plant 30-40 cm high. It grows wild in shady deciduous forests, mainly beech forests, in Europe.
Description: out of the creeping rhizome grow erect, non-
branched tetrahedral stems with whorled leaves. Leaves oblong, spear-shaped and entire. The flowers are small, fragrant, collected in head-forked panicles. Calyx unclear, corolla funnel-shaped, 4 stamens. Blooms from April to June. Fruit is a round sycamous.
Ingredients: the herb contains tannins, bitterness, fatty acids, vitamin C, asperuloside, a little essential oil and coumarin, which has a pleasant spicy-gingerbread smell, especially in the process of drying the herb.
Cultivation: the jelly is very unpretentious and undemanding to soils. Easily divorced in gardens. Of the seeds grown in spring seedlings as well as for most aromatic greens, which is later transplanted into the ground, when the danger of May frosts passes. It is also possible to sow in open ground in the beginning or middle of May. Planting material is also obtained by dividing old bushes. This is done in the autumn, separating the parts of the root, on which there are at least 3 kidneys, which later give young shoots.
Gathering: an herb is used that is cut during flowering. Dry it should be in the shade, often turning over.
Medicinal properties: Ashberry Ashberry - medicinal plant. Has a diuretic effect, in folk medicine is usually used for liver diseases, with jaundice and as a soothing and hypnotic. The main role in the therapeutic effect is played by coumarin. However, the jellyfish can not be consumed in large quantities, since it has a toxic effect and can cause headache, dizziness, vomiting, and with severe overdose, paralysis of the respiratory center, stopping breathing and even death.
Application: the woodruff has a pleasant and intense smell, a spicy, bitterish taste. It is used for flavoring fruits, flavoring tobacco. Yasmennik is one of the first spring aromatic plants, it is widely used by amateurs and connoisseurs of spices. It gives a pleasant taste to puddings, compotes, sweets and ice cream. However, the leaves of the woodruff are never added to the dish in finely chopped form, as in other plants. Slightly wilted leaves are briefly placed in a dish, and then taken out. The taste of fruit salads, sweet soups and lemonade becomes thinner after this procedure.