Alder Gray.

Alder Gray

A large shrub or tree of the birch family, up to 20 m high, with smooth gray bark. The leaves are acute, ovate-elliptic, non-sticky, glabrous above, dark green, bluish-green below. Young branches and shoots are gray-lobed.

It blooms in March - April, before the leaves bloom. Flowers are dioecious, monoecious. Men's catkins are held on drooping branches, women's ones are short, pineal-shaped, almost sessile.

The fruit is complex and falls off in the 2nd year after sowing.

Gray alder is common in the European part of Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Western Siberia. It grows in floodplains, swampy lowlands, hummocky swamps, forest edges, burnt areas, clearings, abandoned arable land, and quickly occupies empty spaces.

Alder wood is water-resistant, so it is used for the construction of long-lasting log houses for wells. It is used to make spinning spools and shuttles. In electrical engineering it serves as an insulating material.

The bark is used for tanning and dyeing leather black, red and yellow, cloth – red and yellow, wool – black, red and yellow, cotton – gray. Alder enriches the soil with nitrogen.

The medicinal raw materials are fruits (cones), bark and leaves, and sometimes roots.

Infructescences from sticky or black alder are collected in autumn and winter (until March), when they are completely lignified. Fallen raw materials are unsuitable for medicinal purposes. Dry in the attic, under a canopy or in a dryer at a temperature of 50-60 ° C, laying out a layer of no more than 4-5 cm and turning over several times. Store in fabric bags or wooden containers for 3 years.

Alder bark is harvested during the period of sap flow during technical felling. Dry in an oven or dryer at a temperature of 40.50 °C. The finished raw material should break well and not bend.

The leaves are collected in early spring. Dry under a canopy or in a dryer, spreading it in a thin layer.

Alder cones contain tannins, alkaloids, phenolcarboxylic acids, triterpenoids, flavonoids, fatty oil (black alder), higher aliphatic alcohols and steroids.

Triterpenoids and tannins are found in the bark, vitamin C, carotene, phenol carbonic acids, tannins, flavonoids, and anthocyanins are found in the leaves.

Alder preparations have anti-inflammatory, astringent, hemostatic, diaphoretic and antimicrobial effects, cause the death of protozoa, and reduce the tendency to develop allergies, including food allergies.

In practical medicine, an infusion of cones is used for stomach and duodenal ulcers, acute and chronic inflammation of the small and large intestines, and also as an anti-inflammatory and astringent agent to quickly stop diarrhea in adults and children that develops after eating poor quality food.

Externally, a decoction of the root and an infusion of alder fruits is prescribed as a lotion for burns, for rinsing with inflammation of the mouth and bleeding gums, as well as for nosebleeds. A decoction of alder cones is indicated for rheumatic arthritis and colds. Baths with alder leaves relieve the feeling of fatigue in the legs after a long walk.

To prepare the infusion, pour 2 tablespoons of pine cones into 1 glass of hot water, boil over low heat for 15 minutes, cool at room temperature for 45 minutes and filter. Take 1/3-1/2 cup 2-3 times a day 30 minutes before meals.