What are the black spots on the birch called? Birch is a symbol of Russia. Why is the birch white

Russia has long been called the birch land. They loved the birch, passed on beliefs about it, composed poems and songs, performed rituals and danced in round dances in the spring.

Let us recall the song “There was a birch in the field”. There are the words "white birch to break", which, it turns out, does not mean at all that it will now be broken. They broke the birch - bending its trunk to the ground and lovingly intertwining it with the grass, the birch trunk is flexible, does not break. There was such a rite before.

Birch is still very much loved in Russia and is called a Russian beauty. Although this is a fragile outwardly, but with tremendous inner strength, the tree grows in North America, and in Japan, and in China, and in many other countries.

Only birch was able to get along in the tundra, withstanding any winds and frosts. Scientists conducted an experiment and placed birch branches in a chamber with a temperature of minus 273 degrees. Then they were taken out, and after a while the frozen branches came to life.

By the way, birch trees are not only white. There are about 65 more different types. For example, in Transbaikalia, the Daurian birch, which has a dark birch bark, grows. In the Kuril Islands and in Japan, you can find "red birch", which has an orange-red wood.

Amazing Schmidt birch, which is also called iron, with very strong wood, which in some ways is not inferior to iron and even stronger than cast iron!

There is also birch, which is called paper bark for its bright white bark, which can be easily divided into thin strips. White bark and the usual for us drooping, or as it is also called, "weeping" birch.

Birch is a favorite tree of our people, personifying the Russian soul, a tree of extraordinary kindness. It is also called the tree of life. With birch, the esoteric teaching of trees connects two runes of the Elder Futhark - Berkan and Uruz. Since time immemorial, birch itself has been associated with fertility and healing magic, birch branches were used to endow fertility not only on the earth, but also on livestock and newlyweds. Cradle for newborns was made of birch tree (practically in all European countries!).

Symbolically and magically, birch figures as a defense against all misfortunes, both physical and spiritual. Birch is extremely useful and very beneficial in healing spells, spells aimed at strengthening the harvest. Birch branches (especially spring ones that have just blossomed) are rightly considered an excellent talisman that drives away sorrows and ailments, protects children from diseases and many other troubles). Birch is gentle and compassionate, has a very soft, affectionate and at the same time strong influence. In contrast to oak, birch should be addressed to sick, weakened, recovering people. It will alleviate suffering, help to regain lost strength, it is easier to endure the illness, and it will speed up the healing process.

Communication with a birch tree is useful for people with upset nerves, who are in a state of depression. This tree relieves fatigue, neutralizes the negative effects of everyday stress, and helps to restore mental harmony. A birch tree growing near the house drives away nightmares. The impact of this tree is long lasting. It is better not to come to him, but to live nearby, then it can heal you. Birch has always been credited with the ability to drive away evil spirits.

Why is birch bark white?

In the woody layer that only birch has. It is called birch bark.

Birch bark is white with long black stripes. Scientists have found in it a substance that is only in birch, and it turns the birch bark white. It was named betulin, using the Latin name for birch. It is believed that it is he who gives the birch such resistance to frost.

In addition, betulin has an antimicrobial effect, because it contains silver ions that have this property. Therefore, walks in a birch grove are very useful, and various medicines are made from birch.

To do this, from the birch, carefully, so as not to harm the tree, they take the leaves, bark, juice and buds, which are strewn with birch in the spring.

Bath massage helps to get rid of many ailments associated with the respiratory tract, cardiovascular and integumentary systems. The ancient Russians knew about these miraculous properties, who passed on from generation to generation the knowledge of how to dry birch brooms for a bath. The procedure is quite simple and accessible to everyone.

Why is birch a symbol of Russia?

The soulful lines of Tyutchev, Yesenin and Rubtsov were dedicated to this tree. It is about him that emigrants remember when they remember their Motherland. White-bore is a symbol of our country, although this fact is not officially recognized (as, for example, sakura in Japan). The reasons for worship are as follows:

Birch is a typical inhabitant of the Golden Ring, the cradle of the Russian state. Despite the fact that over hundreds of years Russia conquered Siberia and the borders of Central Asia, cedar and saxaul could not change the traditional idea of Russian nature;
Bright and memorable appearance. The white trunk, dotted with black stripes, makes the tree look like nothing and stands out from other species;
The plant was a symbol of the pagan Slavic deity Bereginia, which protected from ailments, evil spirits and ensured fertility;
Slavic tribes used the bark of this tree as a means for writing (birch bark);
Before the westernization of Russia by Peter the Great the symbol of the beginning of the new year was not a spruce, but a birch. Its flowering symbolized the awakening of nature from winter oblivion.

Drying technology for twigs with leaves

The plant would never have occupied an important place in the soul of the people, if brooms for a bath were not made from its branches. For many generations of the inhabitants of our country, it was impossible to imagine the washing process without these devices.

When drying branches, it is necessary to take into account the following points:

Do not allow active air exchange in the storage room. Otherwise, the unique aroma of birch leaves will go away forever;
Lack of extraneous odors. Freshly painted walls can spoil a dozen brooms;
Temperature conditions range from 8 to 27 degrees;
It is necessary to avoid direct sunlight and exposure to high humidity;
The optimal place for drying is a non-residential area in the house (attic, storage room, garage);
The duration of the procedure is about 14 days;
Ready-made dry brooms are hung (do not fold!) From the ceiling and left to be stored for up to X hour, until the time comes to use them in business.

Why do we need black stripes on the trunk of a birch tree?

One of the most striking features of the national Russian tree is the stripes streaking its trunk from top to bottom. These formations have not only an aesthetic function, but also play an important role for the life support of the plant. Oxygen flows through them needed for the breathing of a tree.

Formed lentils- this is the name that the black strokes on the trunk bear - as follows:

The skin on a young plant has special micro-holes, or stomata. They are formed between a pair of cells and have a slit-like shape;
As soon as the plant begins to prepare for the winter cold, the stomata begin to rise outward due to the fact that the tissues under them increase in size;
On the surface of the trunk, a bump is formed of a porous material that is highly air-permeable;
A crack may form at the site of the stomata, which further increases gas exchange;
The outer primary integumentary tissue begins to die off and a cork forms;

Principles of broom massage

But back to the brooms. So, they are already ready and can’t wait for the owner to use them. But here's the trouble: the presence of hot water and sewerage in every apartment spoiled the inhabitants of the cities.

Few people now know how to wield bunches of branches in a bath. But there is nothing complicated about this:

Dip the broom into a vat of warm water several times. Then add a couple of ladles of hot water to it and wait until the twigs with foliage soften;
It is not recommended to use hot water treatment right away: foliage may fall off;
You need to use a broom only after the second entry into the steam room, when the body is properly warmed up;
Wave the bundle several times over the lying person so that the hot air envelops him from head to toe;
Sliding brooms all over the body, without coming off;
Then comes a series of small, barely noticeable strokes to stimulate blood circulation;
If the temperature in the steam room is very high, you can periodically dip the bundle in cold water to make the sensation more comfortable.

Suvel birch: what is it? (Photo)

The wood used by humans in economic activities is far from always in perfect condition. Various flaws in the physical characteristics of wood material are called vices. In hardwoods, the so-called suvel- a defect in the structure of the fibers, in which a smooth build-up is formed on the trunk.

The reasons for the formation of the suvel are not fully known to science. Scientists put forward the following assumptions:

Impact of weather and climatic conditions;
Mechanical damage to the tree;
Damage to wood by a fungus;
Sometimes it is possible to artificially get a build-up by wrapping the barrel with wire.

The texture of the build-up can vary from marbled to reddish-brown. In most cases, dark shades are observed.

Despite the fact that in lumbering, kesuvel is recognized as a defect of wood, folk craftsmen highly value this abnormal formation. The blanks are used to make souvenirs, women's jewelry, mugs, and even serve as a canvas for carving.

How does birch reproduce?

The tree belongs to an extremely tenacious species and is prone to reproduction of its own kind even after a forest fire. Reproduction methods include:

Seeds... Occurs when there is open space. When female flowers are pollinated with male flowers, seeds are formed that fall to the ground in the autumn-winter period. Having survived the cold, they germinate successfully in the spring;
Undergrowth... If you do not take care of the tree in any way for several years, then young shoots will appear near its base. They are formed from buds "dormant" on the root system of the plant;
Cuttings... To do this, in spring or summer, shoots are cut from a birch that is more than two years old and an incision is made at the end of the seedling (so it can better absorb moisture). Planting is done only after the roots are formed. The cutting is buried in an open and well-lit area 2-3 centimeters into the soil.

Seed propagation is also used for decorative purposes. After the earrings have acquired a brown color, they are collected and planted six months later, in the spring.

There is a number of knowledge worthy of inclusion in the Red Book: how to weave sandals, embroider on a hoop, how to dry birch brooms for a bath. Until the achievements of civilization have finally destroyed the tradition of washing in a bath, we will list the main stages of the process: we harvest the branches, dry them and hang them from the ceiling.

Video instruction: how to properly dry a birch broom

In this video, Viktor Medvedev will tell you in detail about the process of preparing brooms for a bath:

“We have a birch in every song, a birch under every window,” - is sung in a beautiful song by the composer A. Ponomarenko to the verses of M. Agashina. And it's hard to argue with that - this tree has really become a kind of symbol of our country. The attitude to birch has always been special - for example, it was an important "character" in the Semik rituals, which in the Christian era were combined in time with the feast of the Holy Trinity, and even in the Orthodox Church the custom has been preserved to bring birch branches to the church on this holiday ...

The originality of this tree lies primarily in the color of the bark - it is not easy to find another tree with white bark! True, not all types of birch have such a feature - for example, in Transbaikalia, Daurian birch with dark bark grows, on the Kuril Islands and in Japan - red birch, which received this name because of its red-orange color ... But in our area, birches are white with black spots.

Why birches are white, explained the outstanding Russian chemist T.E. Lovits (1754-1804). He isolated a crystalline organic substance from the birch bark, which was named so - betulin (from the Latin name for birch - betula).

Betulin is a white resinous substance that fills the cell cavities of the birch cork tissue - this is what gives the birch bark its white color. After all, the betulin content in it is enormous: in different types of birches, it ranges from 14% to 44%. What does this evolutionary acquisition give a tree?

First of all, betulin is rich in silver ions. And silver, as you know, has bactericidal properties, so betulin is a wonderful natural antiseptic that protects the tree from infections. It is not for nothing that birch has long been known as a medicinal plant - with its juice they treated skin diseases, as well as colds. However, this is not the end of it: tea made from birch buds is a wonderful diuretic, a fortifying drink saturated with vitamins was prepared from its leaves, and people living near the birch grove are much less ill due to the volatile bactericidal substances of this tree. For the same reason, people with weak lungs are advised to walk more in birch groves.

But back to betulin. It not only protects against bacteria, it is also directly related to such a property of birch as frost resistance - it was this that helped this tree to take root in cold Russia right up to the tundra. The frost resistance of birch is truly amazing: in the course of laboratory experiments, birch branches restored their vitality after being in a chamber with a temperature of minus 273 degrees!

So, we figured out with the white color - but what about the black spots?

They are called lenticels. The fact is that neither water nor gases pass through the top layer of birch bark - birch bark. This is also a protective property, but such protection could “strangle” the tree if it did not have an “entrance gate” through which the tree can breathe. These "entrance gates" are the lentils with their loose tissue.

As you can see, the fact that it was the birch that became the “Russian beauty” is quite natural: this tree is perfectly adapted to life in our harsh climate.

Complain ▲ ▼

Why is the beautiful white linen of the birch trunk laced with black stripes? Everything is very simple. The fact is that the birch bark is very dense, the bark cells are so close to each other that they form a dense, almost impenetrable layer, with such a structure of the bark, air simply could not flow to the living cells of the trunk. This is where black stripes on the trunk of a birch come to the rescue - this is lentils... Under them is a looser structure, the intercellular distance in which is much greater. Air freely penetrates to the living cells of the trunk, providing the birch with the breathing process.

The white bark of birches is the result of a rare white pigment called betulin in the tree. The more this pigment is contained in the bark, the lighter it looks. It is not yet fully understood why birches need betulin. It has many interesting functions, including fungicidal. So, most likely, betulin is formed in the bark of birches to protect the bark from fungi, and these trees get white as a free application.

Only a small number of plants have betulin, besides birches, but this does not mean that other plants have not invented other ways to take care of themselves. Indeed, in addition to betulin, plants form a huge spectrum of protective substances that act on fungi, protozoa, and bacteria, for example, the famous phytoncides, which are rich in onions and garlic. Poisons that protect plants from herbivores are also widespread, such as castor oil ricin and atropinebelene. In general, plants have invented many different ways to fend for themselves, and birch betulin is just one of them.

Other interesting features of betulin include its ability to trigger cell apoptosis in certain types of tumors, reduce the size of atherosclerotic plaques, and promote weight loss in obese people. Hundreds of scientific papers have been devoted to studies of the properties of betulin useful for medicine. So the white color of birches is not the only interesting consequence of the attempts of these trees to protect themselves from fungal infections.

By the way, not all birches have a white trunk. For example, Schmidt birch and Daurian birch, which grow in our Far East, have a dark trunk. And the cherry birch, which is native to North America, is cherry red.

But for a tree, such a "shell" is not only beneficial, but can also harm, simply strangling a living plant. The core of the birch trunk needs to breathe. Here black stripes come to the rescue. These are the so-called " lentils»- areas of the bark with a looser air- and moisture-permeable structure. The older the tree becomes, the more noticeable the "lentils" become.

Through them the tree breathes as through pores. In old birches, the bark is often covered with deep black furrows, like a human face with wrinkles, and in young trees, the bark is almost all white, soft and silky, like the skin of a baby. In nature, nothing happens "just like that", even the color of the birch bark is important for the plant.

There are about a hundred species of birches on our planet. In Russia, this tree species is one of the most widespread (see interesting facts about forests).
Birch buds and leaves are actively used in medicine as an antipyretic, bactericidal, diuretic and wound healing agent.
The image of a birch is widespread in the culture of the Slavs, Finno-Ugric peoples, Scandinavians and some other peoples.
The word "birch" in the Proto-Slavic language is derived from the verb "whiten, brighten".
Most birches grow up to 30-45 meters with a trunk girth of up to 150 centimeters. There are also shrubs in this genus, barely rising from the ground.
Birch seeds are extremely light - 5,000 seeds weigh about 1 gram, so the wind can carry them a great distance from the mother tree.
Most birches tolerate permafrost well and grow far beyond the Arctic Circle.
Birch trees can grow in almost any soil - wet, swampy, dry and rocky.
The average life span of birches is about 100 years, although some trees live up to 400 years or more.
The stag beetle, the largest beetle in Europe, lives in the wood of birches (see interesting facts about insects).
Some types of mushrooms grow exclusively under birch trees - boletus, birch porcini mushroom, black milk mushroom and pink wave, as well as some varieties of russula.
Orthodox Christians often decorate churches and houses with birch branches on Holy Trinity Day.
Birch leaves and alum produce a yellow dye for wool.
In the past, birch torches were often used to illuminate peasant huts, because this wood burns brightly, and at the same time hardly smokes.
Birch firewood is considered to be the best.
Birch brooms are not only an obligatory attribute of Russian baths, but also feed for livestock, which is harvested for the winter.
It is not recommended to erect any buildings from birch logs, because the wood quickly begins to rot.
Birch wood is used to make skis, toys, plywood and butts for firearms. Caps (growths that form on different parts of birches), thanks to the beautiful wood pattern, are used to cut snuff boxes, cigarette cases, caskets and decorative pieces of furniture.
Birch bark (birch bark) is an excellent material for weaving baskets, bast shoes, baskets and boxes.
In ancient times, birch bark was used as paper - it is not afraid of moisture, due to which many records of the 11th-15th centuries have survived to this day.
The peoples inhabiting the Far East and North make boats from birch bark and build their own dwellings (plague).
Birch sap, which is collected after the first spring thaw, is used to prepare a variety of drinks. One large tree is capable of producing more buckets of juice per day without harm to itself.
According to ancient folk beliefs, the smell of birch helps to ward off the evil eye and saves from melancholy. It was also believed that birch sap, collected on certain days in March and April, is able to purify the blood.
When birch leaves decompose, substances are formed that stimulate the growth of other plants.