Theory for preparation for block No. 4 of the Unified State Exam in biology: with system and diversity of the organic world.

Moss moss

Moss-moss- one of the most ancient divisions of higher spore plants. Currently, they are represented by a relatively small number of genera and species, the participation of which in the vegetation cover is usually insignificant. Perennial herbaceous plants, usually evergreen, resembling green mosses in appearance. They are found mainly in forests, especially coniferous ones.

There are about 400 species, but only 14 are common in Russia (club-shaped moss, ram-moss, double-edged moss, etc.).

The structure of mosses

Lycopods are characterized by the presence of shoots with spirally, less often oppositely and whorled leaves. The underground parts of the shoots of some lycophytes have the appearance of a typical rhizome with modified leaves and adventitious roots, while in others they form a peculiar organ bearing spirally arranged roots and called a rhizophore (rhizophore). Roots of lycophytes are adventitious.

Nutrition and reproduction of mosses

Sporophylls may be similar to ordinary vegetative leaves, sometimes different from them. Among the lycophytes there are equi- and heterosporous plants. Homosporous gametophytes are underground or semi-underground, fleshy, 2-20 mm long. They are bisexual, saprophytic or semi-saprophytic, and mature within 1-15 years. Gametophytes of heterosporous unisexuals, non-green, usually develop within several weeks due to the nutrients contained in the spore, and upon maturity do not protrude or protrude slightly outside the spore shell. The reproductive organs are represented by antheridia and archegonia: in the former, bi- or multiflagellate sperm develop, and in archegonia, eggs develop. Fertilization occurs in the presence of drip-liquid water, and a sporophyte grows from the zygote.

Sporophyte club moss is a perennial evergreen plant. The stem is creeping, branched, produces vertical branched shoots about 25 cm high, densely covered with leaves that look like elongated pointed scales. Vertical shoots end in spore-bearing spikelets or apical buds. On the shaft of the spore-bearing spikelet there are sporophylls with sporangia on the upper side. The spores are identical, contain up to 50% non-drying oil, and germinate very slowly. The gametophyte develops in the soil in symbiosis with a fungus (mycorrhiza), which, receiving carbohydrates, amino acids and phytohormones from the vascular plant, makes water and minerals, especially phosphorus compounds, available for absorption and absorption by the plant. In addition, the fungus provides the plant with a larger absorption surface, which is especially important when it grows in poor soil. The gametophyte develops over 12-20 years, has rhizoids, and does not have chloroplasts. However, in some species it develops on the soil surface, then chloroplasts appear in its cells.

Gametophyte bisexual, resembles an onion in shape, acquires a saucer-shaped shape as it develops, and bears numerous antheridia and archegonia. Mature antheridia are almost completely immersed in the gametophyte tissue or slightly protrude above its surface. The archegonium consists of a narrow abdomen immersed in the tissue of the gametophyte and a long or short neck protruding above its surface. Antheridia usually mature before archegonia. The zygote germinates without a dormant period and gives rise to an embryo. Vegetatively propagated by parts of the stem and rhizome. Some club mosses also have specialized organs for vegetative reproduction: brood nodules on the roots, brood bulbs or buds on the tops of shoots.

Development cycle of clubmoss: A - sporophyte; B - gametophyte; 1 - creeping shoot with adventitious roots; 2 - ascending shoots; 3 - stalk of spore-bearing spikelets; 4 - leaves: ascending shoot (a) and stalks of spore-bearing spikelets (b); 5 - spore-bearing spikelets; 6 - sporolists: view from the ventral (c) and dorsal (d) sides; 7 - sporangia; 8 - disputes; 9 - germinating spore; 10 - archegonium; 11 - antheridium; 12 - fertilization; 13 - fertilized egg; 14 - development of a new sporophyte on the gametophyte.

Equisetaceae (Horsetails)

The living species are exclusively herbaceous plants ranging in height from a few centimeters to several meters.

In all types of horsetail, the stems have a regular alternation of nodes and internodes.

The leaves are reduced to scales and arranged in whorls at the nodes. Lateral branches are also formed here.

The underground part of horsetails is represented by a highly developed rhizome, in the nodes of which adventitious roots are formed. In some species (horsetail), the lateral branches of the rhizome turn into tubers, which serve as a place for deposition of reserve products, as well as organs of vegetative propagation.

The structure of horsetails

Horsetails are herbaceous plants with annual above-ground shoots. A small number of species are evergreen. The size of horsetail stems varies greatly: there are dwarf plants with a stem 5-15 cm high and a diameter of 0.5-1 mm and plants with a stem several meters long (in the polychaete horsetail the stem reaches a length of 9 m). Tropical forest horsetails reach a height of 12 m. The underground part is a rhizome, creeping, branched, in which nutrients can be deposited (tubers are formed) and which serves as an organ of vegetative propagation. Aboveground shoots grow at the top. Summer shoots are vegetative, branched, assimilating, consist of segments, with well-developed internodes. Whorled and also dissected branches branch off from the nodes. The leaves are inconspicuous and grow together into toothed sheaths that cover the lower part of the internode. Silica is often deposited in the epidermal cells of the stem, so horsetails are a poor food.

Spring shoots are spore-bearing, non-assimilating, unbranched, and spore-bearing spikelets are formed at their apex. After the spores mature, the shoots die. The spores are spherical, with four springy ribbons, greenish, germinate into shoots, unisexual - male or female. There are cases when antheridia and archegonia appear on the same prothallus. From the fertilized egg, a pre-adult grows, and then an adult horsetail.

Horsetails often make up a significant percentage of grasslands in meadows and wetlands; common in acidic soil. Most often, we have horsetail, meadow horsetail, marsh horsetail, marsh horsetail and forest horsetail.

Horsetails reproduce sexually. The sexual generation is the gametophyte (prothallus). Antheridia and archegonia are formed on gametophytes. Multiflagellate sperm develop in antheridia, and eggs develop in archegonia. Fertilization occurs in the presence of drip-liquid water, and a sporophyte grows from the zygote without a rest period.

Horsetail

Horsetail, related to mosses and ferns, got its name for its resemblance to a horse's tail.

The only thing horsetail requires for normal development and growth is sufficient moisture in the soil. If the amount of moisture is limited, then horsetails can exist in relatively shallow groundwater. In places with disturbed vegetation, horsetails form vast thickets that are difficult to eradicate, and therefore often clog pastures and fields; they grow especially well on acidic soils (acidity indicators).

The rhizome of horsetail exceeds the mass of above-ground shoots, and therefore it is very difficult to eradicate it. Some types of horsetail are poisonous to livestock: when cows eat hay with a high content of horsetail, they experience a decrease in milk yield, emaciation, and a drop in the fat content of milk; in sheep, wool growth stops. Other species, on the contrary, are valuable food for animals. Interestingly, animals eat horsetail only after the onset of severe frosts. This is due to the ability of horsetail to change its chemical composition throughout the year (the starch accumulated by the plant over the summer turns into sugars with the onset of cold weather). Most species of horsetail are not dangerous to humans. After cooking, horsetail turns out to be even tasty. Dishes made from this plant really exist. True, now they are almost forgotten, but once upon a time in the northern regions of Russia, rural residents knew many recipes for preparing this prickly herb. But recipes for preparing healing decoctions and infusions from horsetail have been preserved to this day; they continue to be used in the treatment of diseases of the excretory system and other diseases.

For medical purposes, only one type is used - horsetail. The dosage of horsetail preparations should be in strict accordance with the doctor’s indications, since its active substances can negatively affect health in the event of an overdose. Horsetail grass is rich in valuable substances - mineral salts of calcium and potassium, tannins and acids - malic and oxalic. But the most valuable compounds are silicic acid compounds, which are found in a rare soluble form.

Medicinal properties. Horsetail herb is used as a diuretic for edema due to heart failure, for diseases of the bladder and urinary tract (pyelitis, cystitis, urethritis), pleurisy with a large amount of exudate. The use of horsetail for chronic lead poisoning is interesting. In this case, horsetail, to a greater extent than other diuretics, promotes the release of lead.

Contraindications. For diseases accompanied by severe damage to the renal parenchyma (nephritis and nephrosis), horsetail infusion is usually not used, since silicic acid and some other substances contained in it have an irritating effect. It is necessary to take preparations from horsetail under the supervision of a doctor, strictly following the prescribed treatment regimen.

Dosage forms, route of administration and doses. To prepare the decoction, pour 2 tablespoons of crushed horsetail herb into 1 glass of hot water, keep in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes, cool for 10 minutes and filter. Take 1/3-1/2 cup 3-4 times a day 1 hour after meals.

Collection and drying of horsetail. The entire above-ground part is harvested in the summer, in June-August, cutting off with sickles or knives at a height of 5 cm from the soil surface. Dry in attics, under canopies, laying out a layer 5-7 cm thick, or in dryers at a temperature of 40-50 °C. In dry weather, raw materials can be dried outdoors in the shade. The shelf life of raw materials is 4 years. The color of the raw material is grayish-green. The smell is weak, peculiar, the taste is slightly sour.

In addition to horsetail, there are often other species that cannot be harvested, some of which are poisonous. Horsetail has secondary branching branches that are horizontal or curved down. Horsetail has horizontal, unbranched, triangular branches. Horsetail has unbranched branches, mostly pentagonal, irregular, like those of horsetail, going obliquely upward. The base of the branch segments is black, the branch teeth have a black-brown margin. Poisonous. Horsetail has a stem up to 1 m high, thick, with a large cavity inside. The branches are simple or absent altogether.

Chemical composition. The herb contains the saponin equisetonin, which is broken down during hydrolysis into equisetogenin, fructose and arabinose. Ash contains 15-25%, which contains an exceptionally large amount of silicic acid (up to 80%), which is in a water-soluble form associated with organic compounds. The plant contains several flavone glycosides, equisetrin and isoequisetrin, organic acids, vitamin C and carotene. Minor traces of alkaloids (equisetin, etc.) and bases (methoxypyridine) were found.

Horsetail is popularly called fir-trees, pestles, piggrass, the British call them horsetail, and the Germans call them tin grass. And all these names reflect some of its characteristic features.

Horsetail grows just like any other herbaceous plant. It breaks out from under the snow in early spring, immediately after the snow melts. That is why young shoots of horsetail are lost among the leaves of coltsfoot, coppice, and snowdrops. Since horsetail is a spore plant, during its reproduction process two generations clearly alternate - spore and sexual.

In spring, the first thing to emerge from under the snow is a spore sprout, which has a brownish color. The sprout looks like a spikelet with small needles on the sides and a knob on the top. Only after the spores fall off, which occurs in the next few weeks, does the spikelet die and is replaced by a plant of the sexual generation. This is a typical, well-known herringbone horsetail. Plants die in the fall, only dark green lasts the longest horsetail overwintering. Devoid of thorny leaves, it stands until the first snow falls. Sometimes in early December you can see thin twigs of wintering horsetail peeking out from under the snow.

Dry stems of wintering horsetail make excellent nail files. Previously, it was used for polishing various products, and in cases where it was necessary to obtain a very smooth surface, for example, in the manufacture of the famous Palekh boxes. You can collect the stems in the summer, dry them, grind them into powder and use them to clean dishes.

One of the most common horsetails in the forest is horsetail. However, due to some misunderstanding it was called not forest, but meadow. This name is very unfortunate, since this plant is not at all typical of meadows, but is found almost exclusively in forests.

If you examine the branches of meadow horsetail carefully, you will notice that they are triangular. These features of the branches make it easy to distinguish horsetail from all its other relatives found in the forest.

It is interesting that the lateral branches of horsetail, like the main stem, consist of separate segments. But this is difficult to notice because the branches are very thin.

In spring, as soon as the snow melts in the forest, horsetail is completely invisible. It does not appear immediately, but still quite early. Straight green stems emerge from the ground to the surface, quickly lengthen and grow upward. Young stems, like adults, are divided into separate segments. But only their side branches are still very small, short, and not very noticeable. At first they look like tubercles or short thin sticks. The main stem of horsetail grows much faster than the side branches. It soon becomes tall, stops growing, and the side branches still continue to lengthen. By the end of spring, the above-ground part of the plant is fully formed and the horsetail takes on its usual appearance. Its long branches droop slightly. They are very delicate, weak, and easily swayed by the wind.

Aboveground shoots of horsetail grow in the spring from rhizomes hidden in the soil. The horsetail rhizome is thin, black, cord-like, the same thickness as the stem. It is like a continuation of the above-ground stem in the soil. Even its structure is similar: the same individual segments joining into a continuous common chain. But the rhizome is in some ways not similar to the stem. Branched thin roots extend from it to the sides, penetrating into the soil. Its color is also different, black. And if you try to break the rhizome, make sure that it is very strong, strong - not at all like an above-ground stem. High tensile strength is one of its characteristic features. Horsetail rhizomes are difficult to dig out entirely from the soil. It goes quite deep and branches many times.

Horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.)

Description of appearance:
In early spring, spore-bearing shoots develop, without branches, brownish, succulent, ending in a spore-bearing spikelet, withering early. At the beginning of summer, green ribbed vegetative shoots develop; vaginas 5-12 cm long with 4-5 triangular-lanceolate, black, lightly bordered teeth, which are half as long as the vaginas; branches are mostly directed upwards. The spores ripen in March-May.
Height: Spore-bearing shoots - 10-25 cm, vegetative shoots - 10-50 cm.
Root: Rhizome up to 1 m or more long, horizontal, almost black or black-brown, with deep vertical branches and often with starchy tubers up to 1 cm in diameter.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Horsetail grows in fields, crops, vegetable gardens, fallow lands, felled meadows, sand and pebble shallows, shallows of sea coasts, and wastelands.
Prevalence: Cosmopolitan, distributed almost throughout the globe, mainly in the temperate climate zone. In Russia it is found throughout the territory and is common.
Addition: Intensively reproduces vegetatively, covering large areas; a malicious and difficult to eradicate weed. Rhizomes have very high vitality, and even small fragments of them (about 1 cm long) are capable of giving rise to new plants.

Horsetail (Equisetum fluviatile L.)

Description of appearance:
Shoots can be either simple or branched. The branches are usually concentrated at the top and directed upward; they are finely tuberculate-ribbed; the lowest segment of the branch is somewhat shorter than the sheath of the stem; the teeth on the branch sheaths are awl-shaped, pressed or slightly deviated from the stem. The above-ground parts do not die off completely in winter: the lower part, 5-10 cm long, remains green. The upper lateral branches can end, like the main axis, in spikelets. The spores ripen in June-July.
Height: 30-150 cm.
Root: With a long rhizome.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: River horsetail grows along the banks of reservoirs and marshy swamps; around overgrown lakes and oxbow lakes it often forms vast clear thickets, entering the water. It is very light-loving and in swampy forests it is found only on the edges, in small numbers.
Prevalence: Distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, including throughout Russia, a common species.
Addition: Sometimes different morphological types of this species (for example, with simple stems, branched, with spikelets on lateral branches) are given the status of varieties.

Horsetail (Equisetum palustre L.)

Description of appearance:
Stems are 3-4 mm in diameter, sharply angular-furrowed, usually branched, but can also be simple. Sheaths with 5-8 broadly lanceolate, black-brown or black teeth. Spore-bearing and vegetative shoots are almost identical, always green. The spikelet is usually single; less often, spikelets can be located at the ends of lateral branches; in this case, the lower branches can be longer than the upper ones and reach the same height as them. The spores ripen in June-July.
Height: 10-40 cm.
Root: The rhizome is long, often forms nodules filled with starch.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Horsetail grows along the banks of reservoirs, in swamps and swampy meadows. Easily falls out of the grass stand as other tall species develop.
Prevalence: Distributed in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere, including throughout Russia, it is common.
Addition: One of the most poisonous horsetails. In the northern part of the forest zone it becomes a weed in wet fields.

Horsetail (Equisetum pratense Ehrh.)

Description of appearance:
Spore-bearing and vegetative shoots are similar to each other, only the spring spore-bearing shoots are more juicy, paler, turn green after the spores ripen and develop lateral horizontal or arched simple branches deflected downwards. Vegetating shoots are erect, pale green or whitish, with a large cavity in the center and small peripheral cavities; ribs 8-16. Stem sheaths with 10-15 small teeth, fused almost to half. The spores ripen in May-July.
Height: 15-40 cm.
Root: Rhizome without nodules.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Horsetail is a common component of the grass stand of broad-leaved and coniferous-deciduous forests; it grows in clearings, emerging into meadows (especially from under cleared forests). It can grow in fields overgrown with small forests or shrubs.
Prevalence: Distributed in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, including throughout Russia, with the exception of the southeastern regions of the European part.

Horsetail (Equisetum sylvaticum L.)

Description of appearance:
Spring spore-bearing shoots are simple, with brown bell-shaped whorls, developing green branched branches after sporulation. The spores ripen in April-June.
Height: 20-60 cm.
Root: Rhizome is long, thin, black-brown.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Horsetail grows mainly in moist spruce and birch forests, often dominating the background of mosses; en masse covers low gentle slopes to forest streams or small drainless depressions; extends into wet meadows, and in the north of the forest zone it can be a weed in arable areas that have recently emerged from the forest.
Prevalence: An ordinary plant. Widely distributed in the Arctic and forest zones of the northern hemisphere. In Russia it is found throughout the territory, with the exception of steppe regions, where it is rare.
Addition: Like most horsetails, it reproduces well and spreads vegetatively; Producing a large spore mass, it easily settles in suitable conditions, especially in the north.

Wintering horsetail (Equisetum hyemale L.)

Description of appearance:
An evergreen plant that forms bunches of closely spaced thick, tough shoots about 3-4 mm in diameter. Young shoots that develop in the spring differ from those that have overwintered in their light green color, juiciness and increased fragility at the nodes. Old shoots die off gradually, through the upper segments. The spores ripen in May-July.
Height: 30-80 cm.
Root: With shortened rhizome.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Overwintering horsetail has two ecological niches: on light sandy soils it grows in light, dry pine forests or (in the northern regions) in white spruce forests, but more often it is found on steep clay slopes of forest ravines, forming continuous thickets and occupying all places devoid of ground cover. Often, but sporadically.
Prevalence: Distributed in Europe, Africa, the Caucasus, Asia Minor and Central Asia, China, North and South America. In Russia it is found throughout the territory.
Addition: In Siberia and the Far East it serves as winter food for horses, cattle and some game animals.

Reed horsetail (Equisetum scirpoides Michx.)

Description of appearance:
Small evergreen plant. The stems are numerous, thin, often creeping, simple or branched at the base, with 6-16 rough ribs. Stem sheaths with three teeth gradually extending into a long pointed end. The spikelet is sharp, half or more hidden in the upper whorl. The spores ripen in May-July.
Height: 6-25 cm.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Reed horsetail grows in mossy forests and in light, damp and wetlands.
Prevalence: Distributed in the Arctic and northern regions of the globe. In Russia - mainly in the tundra zone and in the northern forest, especially in the northeastern part of Siberia, where it is considered a good forage plant, although its food mass is small. In Central Russia it is very rare, found only in the Yaroslavl, Tver, Kostroma, Moscow, Bryansk and Nizhny Novgorod regions.

Variegated horsetail (Equisetum variegatum Schleich. ex Web. et Mohr)

Description of appearance:
An evergreen plant that forms small bushes from erecting shoots. The stems are simple, with straight internodes and 4-10(12) strongly projecting ribs; leaf sheaths with oblong-ovate teeth, numbering 4-6, almost black in the lower part, above with a brown median stripe and a wide light margin, at the apex with a thin, subulate, black-brown, often falling tip. The spores ripen in April-July.
Height: 10-30 cm.
Root: Turf plant.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Plant of open habitats. It grows most luxuriantly and abundantly in unshaded places - sandy and pebble shallows, moss swamps, alpine meadows, especially in areas of ice, along treeless mountain valleys and the banks of mountain rivers; everywhere in conditions where, at a shallow depth where its root system is located, there is a layer of constant moisture.
Prevalence: Distributed in Northern and Central Europe, Transcaucasia, Mongolia and North America. In Russia - almost throughout the entire territory from the polar regions to the steppe regions, but rarely everywhere except the northeast of Siberia. In Central Russia it is found mainly in the non-chernozem zone.
Addition: A forage plant with moderate grazing does not show a tendency to fall out. It is excellently eaten by cattle and, especially, deer, mainly in autumn, from the first frost, in winter from under the snow until early spring.

Horsetail (Equisetum ramosissimum Desf.)

Description of appearance:
A plant with ribbed stems. Ribs number 8-15, convex, without grooves; the sheaths (according to the number of ribs) are funnel-shaped and widened, with whitish tips on the teeth, quickly falling off. There are 2-5 lateral branches in whorls, less often a simple stem. The apical spore-bearing spikelet is sharp. The spores ripen in May-July.
Height: 30-100 cm.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Horsetail grows on sand, chalk outcrops, sand and pebble deposits along the banks of rivers and streams, along cliffs; sometimes found in crops; may enter further north along sands, especially along railway embankments. The least moisture-loving of all horsetails.
Prevalence: Distributed in the steppe and semi-desert zones of the northern hemisphere. In Russia it is found in the southern half of the European part and in the steppe regions of Western Siberia. In Central Russia, a rare species found in Bryansk, Lipetsk and other southern regions.

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Horsetail is a perennial plant. It overwinters as a rhizome deep in the soil. In early spring, you can see fertile stems of horsetail in fields, along roads, in vegetable gardens, on railway embankments, popularly called pestles.
The stems are not branched, 7-25 cm tall.

Succulent, light brown or reddish-brown in color, the stems of horsetail end at the top with a spore-bearing pistil - a spikelet with spores. After the spores are scattered, the stems die.
After the pistils, leaves later develop in a sterile manner. In horsetail, they are unbranched at the top (branching can rarely be seen on the lower branches), 4-5-sided, without a cavity inside, bright green and very hard. Characteristic are the teeth and stem sheaths: triangular-lanceolate, sharp, black-brown, fused in 2-3 groups. The branches are directed obliquely upward. As my grandmother used to say, she raises branches towards the sun.
Distributed throughout Russia, grows on sandy soil. It is an indicator of acidified soils.
You can go collecting green shoots of horsetail in the summer. Cut them at a height of 5 cm and
When collecting horsetail, it is very important to carefully examine the branches so as not to accidentally take other types of horsetail. They can harm your health. Therefore, in this article I paid a lot of attention to the botanical characteristics of horsetail. The following case was very indicative.
Sometime in 1995, a friend invited me to consult her mother about herbal treatment. The woman suffered from pancreatic cancer in the last stage. My visit was purely psychological in nature: “Please come, just talk, it will make her feel better.” Imagine my surprise when I saw horsetail laid out for drying in the dying woman’s room. Its branches are drooping, twice branched, the stem sheaths have 4-5 brown wide sharp teeth. The woman said that she has been brewing an infusion of such horsetail all her life...
My grandmother taught me to distinguish horsetail as a child: “The branches on the stems of horsetail grow upward towards the sun, and a sick person from illness is pulled towards the sun. And those horsetails whose branches reach down to the ground will put the sick person in the ground.” This image helped me find horsetail not only for me, but also for my daughters, who, by the way, also became pharmacists.
And in the villages they were afraid of hay with horsetails. Horses died from such hay (possibly due to the content of nicotine and saponins).

Horsetail is confused with horsetail. The meadow horsetail does not have branches of the 2nd order, but the branches of the 1st order are long, horizontal, triangular, their whorls are brown, the sheaths of the stems have unfused teeth with a white membranous border.
My grandmother always told me that the most dangerous thing is the marsh (riverine) horsetail: its stem is very thick, there are no branches (or few), there are shallow grooves on the stem and it has a wide cavity.

Chemical composition of horsetail

Horsetail grass contains alkaloids (equisetin, nicotine, 3-methoxypyridine), saponin equisetonin, flavonoids, organic acids (aconitic, malic, oxalic), fatty oil, essential oil, many silicic acid salts soluble in organic compounds, tannins, resins , bitterness, polyoxyanthraquinone compounds, vitamin C, carotene (provitamin A).

Properties of horsetail herb

Horsetail was mentioned in ancient times by Avicenna in his works. Horsetail was used as a unique hemostatic and cleansing agent.
In the Soviet Union, the study of horsetail began in the 40s of the twentieth century. In Russia, the effect of horsetail is still being studied at medical universities: for example, in 2008, the antitoxic, strong diuretic (diuretic), antiexudative, antifungal effect of horsetail extract was proven, and an antispasmodic effect was noted.
Horsetail has:

• astringent,
• hemostatic,
• diuretic,
• anti-inflammatory effect,
• helps remove lead from the body in case of lead poisoning

Animal experiments have shown that horsetail reduces blood sugar levels in diabetes mellitus.
Silicic acid and its salts are very important for most tissues of living organisms: they affect the synthesis of collagen (cartilage tissue) and the formation of bone tissue.
Therefore, an infusion of horsetail herb can be used for pathologies of joints and cartilage tissue, and for spinal hernias.
However, large doses are not recommended to avoid silicosis.

Horsetail grass cannot be used for a long time.

In official medicine, horsetail preparations are used for inflammatory diseases of the urinary tract and kidneys, and in the presence of urolithiasis. It is noteworthy that horsetail is superior in strength to kidney tea. However, horsetail preparations are contraindicated for nephritis and nephrosonephritis, because may cause kidney irritation.
As a diuretic, an infusion of horsetail herb is used for congestion (edema), heart failure, and pulmonary failure.
Horsetail herb is used in complex preparations for pleurisy and hypertension.
As a hemostatic agent, horsetail herb is used for hemoptysis due to tuberculosis and uterine bleeding.

Horsetail is included in the anti-asthma medicine according to Traskova’s prescription.
An infusion of horsetail herb is used to wash purulent wounds, treat furunculosis, trophic ulcers, hemorrhoidal bleeding (make lotions with a cold infusion).
An infusion of horsetail herb is used as a rinse for tonsillitis, stomatitis, and nosebleeds.

In cosmetology, an infusion of horsetail herb is used for thinning hair, as a mask for acne, and for oily facial skin. In case of baldness, horsetail silicon is deposited near the hair roots and promotes their growth.

Previously, an infusion of horsetail herb was widely used by printers to cleanse the body of lead salts.

Modern pharmacologists recommend horsetail preparations for weight loss, as having a beneficial effect on metabolism, normalizing water-salt balance, removing toxins in the urine, in the form of complex preparations for atherosclerosis, for detoxification in hepatitis, and is widely used externally in cosmetology.

Horsetail preparations:

Liquid extract in cosmetology for skin and hair care
- horsetail is included in the “Fitolysin” paste, which is used internally for kidney diseases
- horsetail herb in the form of infusion, decoction, teas, alcohol tincture, extract, ointment is used in official and folk medicine for various diseases

Most often, horsetail herb is used as part of preparations. Fees are selected individually after consultation with a doctor.

Horsetail decoction
We pour 4 tablespoons of dry horsetail herb with 1 glass of boiling water in an enamel bowl. You need to cook in a water bath from the moment of boiling for 30 minutes, cool for 10 minutes, strain.
Drink 1/3 cup of horsetail decoction 3 times a day, 1 hour after meals. The course is only 3 weeks. Horsetail preparations should not be taken continuously for a long time to avoid silicosis.

Horsetail infusion
2 tablespoons of dry horsetail herb are poured into 0.5 liters of boiling water in a thermos and left for 1 hour. Take 1/2 glass 10 minutes before meals 4 times a day.

Contraindication for the use of horsetail herb is

• pregnancy,
• breastfeeding (lactation),
• severe kidney diseases (nephritis, nephrosis),
• individual intolerance (allergy).

It is important to remember that horsetail contains substances that can cause harm to health if overdosed. Consult your doctor before using horsetail, follow the dosage and course of treatment.

Pharmacist-herbalist Vera Vladimirovna Sorokina

Horsetail cabbage soup(Equisetum) are perennial herbaceous plants that grow in wet fields and meadows, swamps and damp forests. Although they differ in appearance from ferns and mosses, they are similar to them in many ways. Horsetails, like ferns, are spore plants. Currently, horsetails do not play a major role in the formation of vegetation cover. Although horsetails often form thickets in places where other plants cannot exist.

The species diversity of horsetails is small - about 30 species. In forests on moist soil, horsetail with highly branched drooping lateral branches is often found. Overwintering horsetail grows on sandy soils and in ravines; marsh horsetail and riverine horsetail grow in wetlands, along the banks of rivers and lakes (Fig. 88).

Horsetail

A typical representative is horsetail (Fig. 87). This is a perennial weed that grows in fields and arable lands. In the soil there is a branched rhizome with adventitious roots and buds, from which above-ground shoots develop every year. When cultivating the soil, pieces of horsetail rhizome do not die, and an independent plant grows from each. Therefore, this weed is very difficult to control.

Structure

Horsetails have unique articulated stems. Leaves are located at the joints. The stem is impregnated with silica, which gives it greater strength.

Under favorable conditions, horsetail spores, like ferns, germinate into small plants, unlike leafy plants. Organs of sexual reproduction are formed on them, in which germ cells mature. In the presence of dripping water, fertilization occurs. A young horsetail plant with a rhizome is formed from the egg.

After the formation of spores, the spring shoots die, and green summer shoots grow from the rhizome, similar to small pine trees (see Fig. 87).

The stems of wintering horsetail contain a significant amount of silica - a hard, well-polishing substance. Therefore, its stems are especially tough and durable. They have long been used for cleaning metal utensils and instead of sandpaper.

Shoots of some horsetails (for example, horsetail) are used in folk medicine as a diuretic and astringent.

Pharmacotherapeuticgroup. Diuretic, urolitic agent.

Description of the plant

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Rice. 8.18. Horsetail - Equisetum arvense L.

Horsetail grass- herba equiseti arvensis
- equisetum arvense l.
Sem. Horsetail- equisetaceae
Other names: pestles, pistils, field pine, earthen cones, marsh spruce, horsetail, horsetail, field spruce, marsh spruce.

perennial spore plant(sporophyte) with a long creeping rhizome and jointed stems.
Escapes two types. In early spring, spore-bearing shoots appear - juicy, thick, unbranched, 7-25 cm high, light brown or pinkish in color, bearing one apical strobile (spore-bearing spikelet) with spores. After sporulation they quickly die.
Controversy on spore-bearing shoots they ripen in April – May. In summer, from the same rhizome grow sterile vegetative thin shoots 10-50 cm high, green, with numerous leafless branches arranged in whorls.
Reduced leaves They are closed sheaths located at the nodes of the stem and branches (Fig. 8.18).
Whole plant hard and rough to the touch, since the walls of epidermal cells are impregnated with silicic acid.

Composition of horsetail

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Chemical composition horsetail

Main active ingredients horsetail herbs are

• flavonoids are derivatives of apigenin, luteolin, kaempferol and quercetin.

Also found

• phenolic acids,
• tannins,
• triterpene saponins,
• some alkaloids,
• a significant amount of silicic acid derivatives (about 10% of them in the form of water-soluble silicates).

Properties and uses of horsetail

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Pharmacological properties of horsetail

• improves urination,
• has hemostatic and anti-inflammatory properties,
• helps remove lead from the body.

Galenic forms of horsetail, as well as isolated glycoside luteolin, isolated from horsetail, has

• anti-inflammatory and
• antimicrobial action.

Silicon acid and its salts are found in most tissues of living organisms,

• influence the formation of bone tissue and collagen.

Application of horsetail

Horsetail preparations used as

• a diuretic for inflammatory diseases of the urinary tract (cystitis, urethritis, urolithiasis).

Horsetail herb is usually used in complex medical preparations.

As a diuretic horsetail is also used

• for heart diseases accompanied by congestion,
• with pulmonary heart failure,
• microhematuria and hemoptysis, especially of tuberculous etiology.

Horsetail preparations appoint

• for acute and chronic lead poisoning.

Horsetail is used in cosmetics

• Used for acne and for oily skin care.

Horsetail herb infusion use

• to strengthen hair.

Horsetail preparations are used strictly as prescribed by the doctor , as they may cause kidney irritation.

Horsetail preparations are contraindicated for nephritis and nephrosonephritis.

Spread of horsetail

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Spreading. It has an almost cosmopolitan type of habitat, found in the temperate zone of all continents. The entire territory of the country, except for deserts and semi-deserts; found even in the Arctic.

Habitat. Grows in meadows, river banks, among bushes. As a weed, it is found in fields and vegetable gardens, common along roadsides, on slopes of railway embankments, near ditches, in sandy and clay quarries. It often forms large thickets, convenient for harvesting. Horsetail is an indicator of acidic soils.

Procurement and storage of raw materials

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Preparation. Green vegetative shoots are harvested in the summer, cutting them with a sickle or knife at a height of 5-10 cm from the soil surface. You can collect raw materials throughout the summer in dry weather, since raw materials collected in wet weather turn black.

Before drying, yellowed branches are torn off, non-medicinal types of horsetails are separated, which are difficult to distinguish after drying.

Security measures. Since horsetail reproduces vegetatively, and the aerial part serves as the raw material, the same thickets can be used for several years in a row, then given a “rest” for 1-2 years to avoid depletion of the rhizomes.

Drying. The raw materials are dried outdoors in the shade or in dryers with artificial heating at a temperature of 40-50 ºС, spread out in a loose layer no more than 5 cm thick on paper or fabric. When drying in air, the raw materials are covered with a tarpaulin overnight.

Standardization. GF XI, issue. 2, Art. 50, Changes No. 1,2.

Storage. The compressed grass is packed into bales or bales weighing 50 kg. Store in a dry, well-ventilated area. When humidity increases to 15-16%, the raw materials self-heat and acquire an unnatural odor. Shelf life up to 4 years.

External signs of raw materials, impurities, identification

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External signs of horsetail

Whole raw materials

Whole or partially crushed stems up to 30 cm long, hard, jointed, grooved, with 6-18 longitudinal ribs, whorled-branched almost from the base, with hollow internodes and thickenings at the nodes. The branches are unbranched, segmented, directed obliquely upward, 4-5-sided, without a cavity. The stem sheaths are cylindrical, 4-8 mm long, with triangular-lanceolate, dark brown, white-edged teeth, fused in groups of 2-3. The sheaths of the branches are green with 4-5 long brownish teeth. When branches are cut off, only the first short segments are retained on the stem. The color is grayish green. The smell is weak. The taste is slightly sour. Crushed raw materials. Pieces of stems and branches, partly with nodes and sheaths, passing through a sieve with holes 7 mm in diameter. The color is grayish green. The smell is weak. The taste is slightly sour. Powder. A mixture of particles passing through a sieve with holes 2 mm in diameter. The color is grayish-green with brown and whitish patches. The smell is weak. The taste is slightly sour.

Impurities

Shoots of other types of horsetails (Fig. 8.19), which are not used in medicine and grow in areas where horsetail is harvested, can be found as impurities. Distinctive characteristics of horsetail and other species that are impurities are given in the table.

Qualitative reactions

Determining the authenticity of raw materials involves chromatographic analysis on “Silufol” or “Sorbfil” plates of an alcoholic extract from the horsetail herb. At the same time, spots with blue fluorescence (flavone-5-glycosides) are detected in UV light on the chromatograms.

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Looking at the stem and branches epidermal cells are visible from the surface, strongly elongated on the ribs with thickened straight or slightly curved porous walls, without stomata; in grooves and on reduced leaves - slightly elongated with more sinuous porous walls, with stomata.
Both types of the epidermis, on the walls of the ends (joints) of some cells, characteristic outgrowths are visible, from the surface they look like paired circles, when viewed in a longitudinal position - rounded or jagged with a clearly defined septum; some cells have papillary projections.
Stomata slightly submerged, with characteristic radiant folding of the cuticle, usually located in 3 rows, less often in 4, 2 or 1 (Fig. 8.20).
On a cross section of the stem under the epidermis areas of collenchyma are visible both in the ribs and in the grooves.
In the parenchyma of the cortex Large air cavities are located opposite the furrows.
Behind the faint endodermis opposite the ribs, conductive bundles are located in one row, also carrying one small cavity. The center of the internodes is hollow.
On a cross section of branches there are four large ribs, there is no central cavity.

Numerical indicators of raw materials

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Whole raw materials

Humidity no more than 13%; total ash no more than 24%; ash, insoluble in a 10% solution of hydrochloric acid, no more than 12%; other parts of the plant no more than 1%; other types of horsetails no more than 4%; organic impurity no more than 1%; mineral impurity no more than 0.5%.

Crushed raw materials

Humidity no more than 13%; total ash no more than 24%; ash, insoluble in a 10% solution of hydrochloric acid, no more than 12%; other parts of the plant no more than 1%; particles that do not pass through a sieve with holes with a diameter of 7 mm, no more than 10%; particles passing through a sieve with holes measuring 0.5 mm, no more than 15%; organic impurity no more than 1%; mineral impurity no more than 0.5%.

Powder

Humidity no more than 13%; total ash no more than 24%; ash, insoluble in a 10% solution of hydrochloric acid, no more than 12%; particles that do not pass through a sieve with holes with a diameter of 2 mm, no more than 15%; particles passing through a sieve with holes measuring 0.25 mm, no more than 5%.

Medicines based on horsetail

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1. Horsetail herb, crushed raw materials. Diuretic.
2. The composition includes the collection (antidiabetic collection “Arfazetin”; diuretic preparations “Bequorin” and “Herbafol”; collection for the preparation of medicine according to the prescription of M.N. Zdrenko).
3. The extract is part of complex preparations (“Fitolysin”, “Uroflux”, “Depuraflux”, “Marelin”, “Tonsilgon N”, etc.).