Our planet is home to a huge number of the most different plants, and understanding this diversity is very difficult. But some of these plants can bring special benefits to humans: prevent the development of certain diseases and even cure them. Just such a famous flower is the coltsfoot, which is found in almost all corners of our country. This perennial crop has long been used by humans for medicinal purposes. Let's talk on the www.site about such a plant as coltsfoot, we will give a description for children, tell legends about such a culture and remember together why it was called that.
About what mother and stepmother look like, description of the plant
Coltsfoot is actually quite easy to recognize. This plant is one of the first to please us with attractive and bright colors. Often, even during frosts, in thawed patches, the coltsfoot already shows its golden branches, wrapped in warm hairs. After the sun warms up, the plant gradually blooms flowers. They scatter near roads, along the banks of rivers and streams, as well as on cliffs and meadows. If frosts and cold weather are expected, the flowers immediately hide inside a fluffy collar, which can protect the most delicate petals from the cold. Thanks to this property, people use coltsfoot to predict the weather.
It is surprising that the flowers of such a plant appear long before the leaves. Only after the petals fly away like parachutes with the wind does the coltsfoot become covered with leaves. Thanks to this feature, this plant received its English name, which literally translates as “son before father.”
The main feature of coltsfoot is the unique structure of its leaves. Their lower part is covered with very delicate hairs, and the surface of the leaf is harder and colder to the touch.
But what does this have to do with why the mother and stepmother, why the plant was called that?
Why is mother and stepmother called that?
It is thanks to the structure of its leaves that coltsfoot got its name. After all, delicate hairs are like a mother’s touch, and a hard surface is comparable to a stepmother’s hands. The plant is also popularly called one-sided and two-leafed. Thanks to medicinal properties Coltsfoot also goes by the name “king of herbs” or “king of potions.”
Legends associated with coltsfoot
There are several legends about coltsfoot in folklore. The first of them tells about an evil woman who really wanted to get rid of her husband’s daughter from her first marriage. She didn’t want her husband to date the girl and ex-wife. The stepmother lured the girl to a large cliff and pushed her down. The mother discovered her daughter was missing and rushed to search for her. But she didn’t have time, and came running when the girl had already died. In grief and rage, the woman grabbed her stepmother, they fell from the cliff into the ravine together and were broken. And the next day the bottom of the ravine was covered with an amazing plant with leaves that were soft on one side and hard on the other. Above the plant rose beautiful small flowers of a pleasant yellow color, which resembled the color of a little girl’s hair.
Another legend about the mother and stepmother plant speaks of a happy family in which the mother suddenly died. The children stopped playing and singing, and the father slumped over. Soon the young widow neighbor entered into the widower’s trust and became his new wife. But life never returned to the house, because the stepmother is not a mother, her voice smells cold, and her touch is angry and prickly. As soon as the sun warmed up in the spring, the youngest daughter began to run with her melancholy to the river and shed tears for her dead mother. One day, crying, she raised her head: and near her feet a yellow flower blossomed. And on the same day, the stepmother disappeared without a trace, and ringing laughter returned to the house again. And the flower began to appear every spring to check if the children were doing well, and then disappeared again. And in the summer, leaves appear in its place: with a cold top and a warm soft inside.
Additional Information
Coltsfoot is one of the first honey plants. The honey it produces is very tasty, aromatic and sugary. It can provide enormous health benefits.
And coltsfoot leaves have long been used by our ancestors to treat a variety of diseases. Most often they are used to combat coughs, as well as to eliminate heart ailments, shortness of breath, kidney diseases and many inflammatory processes.
Coltsfoot is amazing plant, which is found in many parts of our country and can bring great benefits to humans.
The name of the flower Coltsfoot is probably known to all residents of the CIS countries. However, not everyone knows what it looks like and why the plant is called “Coltsfoot”. But the explanation of the name, as is often the case, is extremely simple. And more about this below.
The scientific name of the flower is “Coltsfoot”
Obviously, this flower is distributed not only in the countries former Union, and in many other parts of our planet. For example, in Africa and Asia, this flower is also very easy to find. As for its scientific name, Latin it sounds like "Tussiliago". After translating the name into Russian, it becomes clear for what purpose the plant can be used in medicine, because its name can be pronounced as “Kashlegon”. This is exactly what happens; pharmacologists widely use this plant for the production of cough treatment and suppressants.
The legend of why coltsfoot is called that
There are many old Russian legends about the name of the plant. However, most of them boil down to approximately one scenario: a long time ago, a man left his family for another woman, leaving his daughter and mother on their own. However, he systematically visited his own daughter, which haunted his new wife. As a result, jealousy led the new wife, who is a stepmother, to grab her young fair-haired daughter by the hair, take her to a cliff and throw her down into a cold mountain river.
Having learned about what had happened, the girl’s own mother decided to take revenge: she brought her stepmother to that very cliff and wanted to throw her off it, but in the fight the unthinkable happened - both women fell from the cliff. Over time, a flower grew at the site of the death of the young girl, her mother and stepmother. It had a yellow color, symbolizing the color of the girl's hair, as well as soft, delicate leaves on one side, and hard, rough leaves on the other. This symbolized maternal love and the indifference of the stepmother.
Why is the coltsfoot flower called that?
If we talk about why the plant was actually named that way, then the truth is not far from the legend. Omitting all the bloody details of the family squabble, we can note the fact that the leaves of the plant actually have front and back sides different coatings: cold, hard and warm, soft. And here a parallel is involuntarily drawn between the genuine love of a real mother for her child, and the attitude of a stepmother.
A huge number of different plants grow on our planet, and understanding this diversity is very difficult. But some of these plants can bring special benefits to humans: prevent the development of certain diseases and even cure them. Just such a famous flower is the coltsfoot, which is found in almost all corners of our country. This perennial crop has long been used by humans for medicinal purposes. Let's talk on- /site/ about such a plant as coltsfoot, we will give a description for children, tell legends about such a culture and remember together why it was called that.
About what mother and stepmother look like, description of the plant
Coltsfoot is actually quite easy to recognize. This plant is one of the first to please us with attractive and bright flowers. Often, even during frosts, in thawed patches, the coltsfoot already shows its golden branches, wrapped in warm hairs. After the sun warms up, the plant gradually blooms flowers. They scatter near roads, along the banks of rivers and streams, as well as on cliffs and meadows. If frosts and cold weather are expected, the flowers immediately hide inside a fluffy collar, which can protect the most delicate petals from the cold. Thanks to this property, people use coltsfoot to predict the weather.
It is surprising that the flowers of such a plant appear long before the leaves. Only after the petals fly away like parachutes with the wind does the coltsfoot become covered with leaves. Thanks to this feature, this plant received its English name, which literally translates as “son before father.”
The main feature of coltsfoot is the unique structure of its leaves. Their lower part is covered with very delicate hairs, and the surface of the leaf is harder and colder to the touch.
But what does this have to do with why the mother and stepmother, why the plant was called that?
Why is mother and stepmother called that?
It is thanks to the structure of its leaves that coltsfoot got its name. After all, delicate hairs are like a mother’s touch, and a hard surface is comparable to a stepmother’s hands. The plant is also popularly called one-sided and two-leafed. Due to its medicinal properties, coltsfoot is also called “king of herbs” or “king of potions”.
Legends associated with coltsfoot
There are several legends about coltsfoot in folklore. The first of them tells about an evil woman who really wanted to get rid of her husband’s daughter from her first marriage. She didn’t want her husband to date the girl and his ex-wife. The stepmother lured the girl to a large cliff and pushed her down. The mother discovered her daughter was missing and rushed to search for her. But she didn’t have time, and came running when the girl had already died. In grief and rage, the woman grabbed her stepmother, they fell from the cliff into the ravine together and were broken. And the next day the bottom of the ravine was covered with an amazing plant with leaves that were soft on one side and hard on the other. Above the plant rose beautiful small flowers of a pleasant yellow color, which resembled the color of a little girl’s hair.
Another legend about the mother and stepmother plant speaks of a happy family in which the mother suddenly died. The children stopped playing and singing, and the father slumped over. Soon the young widow neighbor entered into the widower’s trust and became his new wife. But life never returned to the house, because the stepmother is not a mother, her voice smells cold, and her touch is angry and prickly. As soon as the sun warmed up in the spring, the youngest daughter began to run with her melancholy to the river and shed tears for her dead mother. One day, crying, she raised her head: and near her feet a yellow flower blossomed. And on the same day, the stepmother disappeared without a trace, and ringing laughter returned to the house again. And the flower began to appear every spring to check if the children were doing well, and then disappeared again. And in the summer, leaves appear in its place: with a cold top and a warm, soft inner side.
Additional Information
Coltsfoot is one of the first honey plants. The honey it produces is very tasty, aromatic and sugary. It can provide enormous health benefits.
And coltsfoot leaves have long been used by our ancestors to treat a variety of diseases. Most often they are used to combat coughs, as well as to eliminate heart ailments, shortness of breath, kidney diseases and many inflammatory processes.
Coltsfoot is an amazing plant that is found in many parts of our country and can bring great benefits to humans.
COLTSFOOT(Latin: Tussilágo fárfara). The literal translation is “melancholy cough.” From the Latin words “tussis” - cough, “lago” - to drive away and “farfara” - “carrying flour” (there is a powdery coating on the bottom of the leaf).
The Russian name arose due to the peculiarity of the coltsfoot leaves: the underside is fluffy and soft - “mother”, and the upper side is smooth and cold - “stepmother”. People say: “The mother loves how the summer sun warms, but the stepmother does not love it - she is cold, like the winter sun.” Symbolizes maternal care.
This plant has another rather rare feature - its flowers appear before the leaves. For this, the British call the coltsfoot “son before father.”
Popular names: mother grass, king potion, two-leafed grass, icy bastweed, March flower, tobacco grass (in some areas its leaves are “smoked” for coughing), horse’s hoof, riverside grass, rannik, podbel (due to the whitish color of the lower sides of leaves), kamchug grass (kamchug is the ancient name for gout), fire lettuce. The last name indicates another feature of the coltsfoot. It grows well on a fireplace, where there are no competing plants, and excellent fertilizer - ash - promotes it. rapid growth. If you dig up the soil in the place of the forest, especially spruce, where it grows, you can find embers - a trace of an old fire.
Coltsfoot blooms earlier than all herbaceous plants and longer than other primroses - 38 days.
There are many mostly sad legends about its origin. One woman’s own daughter died. She spent all her days in the cemetery, stroking her palms and caressing the earth in which her beloved child rested. From mother's love a flower appeared, which covered the girl's grave with the warm felt side of the leaf. But this woman also had a stepdaughter, whom she did not love. And therefore the other side of the sheet was harder and colder.
Another old Russian legend tells that a long time ago, one man fell in love with another and left the family. In his previous family he left a daughter with wonderful golden hair. And so the new wife became jealous of her husband’s own daughter, was angry that he was visiting her, and decided to destroy her. She lured the child to a cliff and pushed him down. The mother realized that her daughter was not at home, ran to look for her, and found her dead. She then rushed into her stepmother’s house and dragged her to the cliff. And then, in the struggle, both fell off a cliff. In this place, small yellow flowers grew to match the golden-haired girl. And the leaves, on the one hand, like a mother’s love, were soft and tender, and on the other, hard and cold, like a stepmother’s hatred. The people called them coltsfoot.
And this legend tells about a happy family in which the mother suddenly died. The children stopped playing and singing, and the father bent over and dried up from grief. Soon, a young widow neighbor bewitched the widower and became his new wife. But life never returned to the house, because the stepmother is not a mother, her voice smells cold, and her touch is angry and prickly. As soon as the sun warmed up in the spring, the youngest daughter began to run with her melancholy to the river and shed tears for dead mother. One day, crying, she raised her head: and near her feet a yellow flower blossomed. And on the same day, the stepmother disappeared without a trace, and ringing laughter returned to the house again. Since then, this flower began to appear every spring to check if the children were well, and then disappeared again. And in the summer, leaves appear in its place: with a cold top and a warm, soft inner side.
The Ukrainian legend about the mother and stepmother is interesting. That was a long time ago. The husband and wife lived in harmony and love, rejoicing in their children. One day my wife got caught in heavy rain, caught a bad cold and fell ill. She melted every day, like a wax candle. She senses that she won’t be able to get up. He asks his husband: “Oh, Vasily, I’m going to die, apparently. Don't let your kids go to waste, get married. But don’t take the neighbor’s widow, she won’t be a mother to our children. She has enough of her own.”
Vasily buried his wife, and soon wooed the neighbor’s widow, she managed to ingratiate herself into his trust. She still established those rules. She divided the children between hers and her husband. Everything for our own, but nothing for orphans. Her children are dressed, fed, well-groomed, but her husbands are hungry, cold, in old clothes. As soon as the snow melted, the stepmother kicked out other people's children to bask in the sun on the river bank. It was cold for the children in torn clothes, they began to ask:
Sun! Sun! Warm our heads!
The sun took pity on them and placed golden wreaths of its light on their heads, and they warmed the children with their warmth. The stepmother saw this, ran to the river and asked:
Where did you get these wreaths?
“The sun gave us,” answered Vasily’s children. The stepmother turned white with envy and ran into the house and to her children:
Take blankets and quickly run to the river bank. May the sun give you golden wreaths too!
But the sun only burned the top of the blankets and went behind the cloud. An icy wind blew with frost and froze the stepmother's children. And on the banks of the river appeared yellow flowers and green leaves - the mother's children and the stepmother's children, and only blankets remained from the stepmother herself. (
Each of us has heard the name of a flower at least once in our lives. coltsfoot.
When nature just wakes up after a long winter, you see a wonderful picture in the forest clearings and hillsides - golden islands of yellow flowers.
These are some of the earliest flowers to bloom - herbaceous plant coltsfoot.
Why was he called that?
Say the word "coltsfoot". Why did people give this flower such a beautiful name?
There are many different fairy tales and legends about this, in which the heroines were their own mother and someone else’s stepmother. And in every fairy tale there is some truth.
But everything is explained very simply.
The shape of the leaves of the plant resembles an open palm.
The upper side of the leaf is smooth and cold, dark green. The underside is soft and warm, with gray fluffy fibers.
When you apply the bottom side of a leaf to your body, you seem to feel the warmth of your mother’s palm and immediately remember your mother. And the top side of the leaf is as cold as an evil stepmother.
This is where it happened Russian name this plant.
When and how does coltsfoot bloom?
Look how unusual this plant blooms.
In March-April, golden-yellow flowers resembling baskets appear first on the shoot stems. The stems at this time are still without leaves, but only covered with scaled leaves.
In May, the plant fades and fruits appear - achenes with a tuft. New leaves that appear after flowering are rounded, heart-shaped, on a long, strong petiole. The plant reproduces by seeds and with the help of rhizomes, which can produce independent shoots (vegetatively).
Coltsfoot grows in the European part of Russia, the North Caucasus, Siberia, and the Far East.
It grows mostly on clay slopes, hills, ravines, river cliffs, embankments, wastelands and, as weed, on the fields.
Why coltsfoot is useful
Healing and beneficial features This plant has always been valued by doctors and healers in Rus'. As a medicine, it was used back in Ancient Greece and Rome, the famous ancient healer Hippocrates.
IN folk medicine it is used as one of the main remedies for the treatment of many diseases.
To medicinal properties don't get lost, you need to follow the collection rules medicinal plants. For example, flowers should be collected in dry, sunny weather. Then they are dried on fresh air, in the shade and without wind.
For medicinal decoctions, not only dried flowers are used, but also leaves and roots of the plant.
Decoctions are taken for coughs, runny nose, colds and other diseases.
This is such an interesting and useful plant.
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