What is a wild radish?

Wild radish is a herbaceous, poisonous annual plant that populates fields in the form of weed. It is unpretentious to climate and soil, it is distributed almost to all continents, it is most often found in the forest zone of Europe, as well as in meadows, along roads, on wastelands and even on urban lawns. It germinates, as a rule, in spring and summer, but it happens in the autumn, at an air temperature of + 2-4 degrees C.

Field plant - wild radish

Family Cruciferae are plants that are pollinated by insects. Therefore, many of them smell and have nectar. Our herbaceous plant belongs to this family.

It has a fairly high stretched straight stem (reaches 50-60 cm in height), covered with hard hairs. The leaf is liriform, growing in turn. Root system in the form of a shortened root. Color of flowers white, yellowish, rarely purple-white. In the weed, the petals grow with a cross and consist of one pistil and six stamens. The length of the fruit that ripens in autumn in the form of a pod that divides into 5-10 segments can reach 8 cm. Seeds are found in oval-shaped pods of a reddish hue.

Reproduction occurs by seeds - from 150 to 300 per plant. Seeds germinate from a depth of no more than 3-4 cm in the second year. In autumn they are covered with a dense shell, in which they perfectly tolerate the winter, and continue to rise in the spring.

Scientists have proved that in the soil the seed can maintain its viability up to 10 years. Blooming wild radish in May-September, fructifies in July-October. In the germination phases and the beginning of the fruiting, it can withstand freezing up to -11 ° C, but does not overwinter.

The plant brings a lot of harm in the fertile fields, it spreads well through the beds, preventing the growth of vegetable crops.

Properties

Wild radish is endowed with poisonous properties in a flowering form, and only in dried it loses it. Externally similar to radish sowing, the taste qualities they are also similar, that's just the consequences of taking the wild radish (inflorescences) are deplorable, namely: there is a strong poisoning, the signs of which are bright urine, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, tachycardia, and irreversible Changes in the kidneys. In such a case it is necessary to provide first aid: to wash the stomach and, if there are worsening of the cardiovascular system, it is necessary to take cardiac preparations.

In some countries, for example in England, stems of this plant are used for food in the form of salads, soups and even seasonings, but after processing with temperature they are not suitable for this, since they have a bitter taste. In dried form they are used for cooking seasonings.

Closer to the autumn, when the pods ripen, the weed becomes dangerous for animals: secreting mustard oil, it can lead to acute damage to the gastrointestinal tract. The plant looks like a field mustard. Possible poisoning of rabbits after feeding grass from the fields.

However, the radish has excellent honey properties - it gives a lot of nectar and pollen for the bees. In folk medicine, decoction of it was used as an expectorant. The useful properties include the vitamin C content in the aerial part of the weed, and in the seeds - 20-32% fatty oil.

A constant struggle is being waged against this weed, since we did not have time to sow bread and plant potatoes - the wild radish is already growing vegetable crops, which plagued farmers much. Control of its reproduction on cultivated soils can be done with the help of herbicides. The active substances of these drugs can be very diverse.

Finally we will share with you an interesting and simple dish that can be prepared from this plant.

Recipe for salad from wild radish

Wash the leaves (200 g), cut, put in a deep plate. Yolks (2 eggs) grind with sour cream (1/2 cup), sugar (1 tablespoon), vinegar (1 tablespoon), sunflower oil (1 tablespoon) and salt. Mix the whole mass and pour the leaves over it, sprinkle with chopped parsley, dill and onions.

Conclusion

Now you know what a radish looks like - you see it in our article. You know how and where it grows and what are the properties of this plant.