Cuckoo carnation

The Cuckoo carnation belongs to the carnation family (Caryophyllaceae) and to the genus Pechnelken. The plant system classifies them in the class of three-furrow pollen dicotyledons (Rosopsida, Dicotyledonea).

Occurrence and cultivation of the cuckoo's light carnation

Due to its beautiful pink-red flowers, it is often used to enrich salads or to decorate sandwiches and other foods. The subdivision is more covered (Angiosperms, Spermatophyta). It has pinkish-red flowers that look a little disheveled. The scientific names are Lychnis flos-cuculi and Silene flos-cuculi. The Cuckoo carnation grows in damp places in meadows, moors and swamps. However, it is not found in heavily fertilized meadows, as it prefers nutrient-poor peripheral areas.

It occurs in the high altitudes of the temperate zones of Europe and Western Asia. It is a hemicryptophyte and an evergreen semi-rosette plant that prefers a moderately warm sea climate as a penumbra plant. However, as many wetlands are increasingly being drained, the carnation family is becoming increasingly rare in its natural environment. Many hobby gardeners now cultivate the plant in the immediate vicinity of their garden ponds. The name goes back to a popular name that has less to do with the bird, as cuckoo was a name for devil or witch in the Middle Ages.

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The popular name is therefore also Devil's carnation or Witch carnation. Another reason for the naming actually goes back to the cuckoo, since the heyday coincides with the call of the cuckoo when it returns from its winter quarters. The plant is often coated with a foamy substance known as Cuckoo spit referred to as. In fact, they are foam nests of the cicadas in which the larvae grow.

The generic name "Lynchis" goes back to the Greek language and means lamp. It stands for the bright pink-red flower color. It is a short-lived, but perennial herbaceous semi-rosette plant that can reach a height of 30 to 90 centimeters. In the flowering period from May to July, the stems have a truss-shaped inflorescence with predominantly hermaphrodite flowers. However, there are also purely male and female plant specimens. The flowers reach a size of four centimeters and are five-fold with a double flower envelope.

The flowers are in loose umbels. The sepals and petals mostly bloom pink-red, but there are also white specimens. The eight millimeter capsule fruits carry one millimeter large seeds. When the storm approaches, the cuckoo flower closes its flowers. The fruit ripens from July to October. The light carnation reproduces vegetatively through runners, which is why, under the right living conditions, larger collections of plants can occur.

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Effect & application

The cuckoo's light carnation has an antibacterial, antimicrobial and immunomodulating effect. Its flowers have a sweet aroma, the leaves have a slightly soapy and tart taste. Due to its beautiful pink-red flowers, it is often used to enrich salads or to decorate sandwiches and other foods. The carnation plant no longer plays a major role in herbal medicine. It is often used against groats and soft tissue tumors, but only when no other medicinal plant is available.

Groats bag is the slang term for atheroma, which is a cyst-like cavity filled with fluid. Mainly the seeds are used, which are enriched as a tincture and applied to the affected areas. Saponins act as an ingredient. Silene flos-cuculi is very popular with beekeepers because it offers a rich supply of pollen and nectar. For this reason, the eye-catching plant is often cultivated in meadows specially created for bees.

It is suitable for honey bees as well as wild bees and bumblebees. The cuckoo's light carnation is also classified as an important useful plant, which helps to keep the pollination performance of the bees, which are themselves important livestock, at a high level. The collection time is in spring and late autumn.

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Importance for health, treatment & prevention

Used as a flower essence, the pink-red plant gives strength, promotes the flow of life energy and works against poisoning, which does not mean the toxic conditions in the true sense of the word, but all negative influences that affect the soul and body.The essence of the cuckoo's light carnation helps to release these negative blockages and to gain new vitality.

The flower essences are known as Bach flowers under the English name Ragged Robin available in pharmacies and online shops. Many online shops have specialized in medicinal plants and offer mixtures of various herbs as well as individual bottlings in powdered form. Since the cuckoo's light carnation is almost no longer used in modern herbal medicine and is only used when no other medicinal plant is available, interested readers will not find much on this topic on the Internet.

The search results of the pages dealing with the cuckoo flower in terms of applied herbal and herbal medicine are repeated many times. With hobby gardeners, however, the carnation plant is very popular as an ornamental plant due to its beautiful appearance. A search query provides many results from the botany area. Herbalists from the Middle Ages ascribed a star power to the plant, with shares of Mars and the moon.

However, they attributed healing powers to the plant similar to those of modern botanical science, and said that the cuckoo's carnation was by its very nature deeply creative and quickly opened up solidified structures. You heal what is torn and protect against disharmonious forces. Saponins can irritate the mucous membranes and cause nausea.

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Herbal experts therefore advise against using the plant components independently. In the refined form of the flower essences, however, there are no concerns, as the end product has been freed from the natural toxins and pollutants of the plant.