The wild cucumber plant (in Latin it sounds like Ecballium elatherium), in fact, is neither one nor the other. He got the name "cucumber" because of some external similarity with the vegetable we all know. The epithet "mad" was given to him because of the way the seeds were dispersed. By the way, in some countries it is called not mad, but wild or donkey cucumber. And although this plant is completely unsuitable for food, people use it very actively.
Appearance
The Crazy Cucumber genus belongs to the Pumpkin family. This plant is the only one of its kind, there are no other species of it. You can meet him in Asia, the Mediterranean, in the south of Russia, in the Crimea, in the Caucasus, even in the Azores. This cucumber is annual or perennial. Its stem represents a creeper crawling on the ground or climbing on supports. She has no mustache. Outwardly, our favorite vegetable and a mad cucumber have a certain similarity. The photo of the plant clearly demonstrates this. Its leaves are as broad and rough as those of the edible cucumber, and the flowers are yellow and corolla-shaped. And here are the fruitsresemble a real cucumber only remotely. They are ovate or oblong, up to 6 cm long, densely covered with bristles, very juicy at the beginning of maturity. The seeds are small, only 4 mm or less, slightly elongated, flat. In nature, this plant can be found in garbage heaps, landfills, along roadsides.
Why "mad"
Each plant, in order to successfully exist, "invented" its own way of distribution in nature. The seeds of some are decorated with thorns, with which they cling to the fur of animals, and thus move to a new place of residence. Others are settled by the wind, others use birds, providing them with juicy fruits. A very original way has a mad cucumber. It distributes seeds by shooting them over a distance of over 6 meters. That is why they gave him such a wonderful name. The plant blooms from July to September. The fruits begin to ripen from August. They turn yellow, the peduncle dries up, and the flesh becomes slimy. At this time, quite high pressure is formed inside the fruit. If you accidentally touch a cucumber, it falls off the stalk and instantly shoots out mucus with seeds. If the fruits are not touched, they themselves, as they ripen, fall off the shrunken stalk, and the seeds under great pressure rush out into the hole formed, away from the parent bush.
What good is it
Crazy cucumber is very poisonous. Neither the fruit nor any other parts of the plant should be eaten. Its flowers do not smell and are not honey-bearing. And yet, itwas widely used in the time of Avicenna. There are many steroids, alkaloids, vitamin C, carotenoids and other valuable substances in the roots, stem and fruits of the plant. Thanks to them, wild cucumber preparations are used in official and folk medicine for the treatment of many diseases. It is used externally for lichen, tumors, fungal diseases, non-healing ulcers, gout, hemorrhoids. Inside, decoctions are prescribed for those suffering from migraines, constipation, rheumatism, intestinal colic, cancer patients, people with hepatitis, diphtheria.
For medicinal purposes, the leaves and stems are harvested when the plant begins to bloom. Raw materials are dried in places where there is no direct sunlight, crushed. The roots are dug up in autumn, washed and also dried. First in the air, and then in ovens. You can store finished raw materials for a year.
Some topical recipes
Lichen
Dried parts of the plant grind into powder and sprinkle it on the sore spot.
Fungus
Prepare a footbath. Take 200 grams of a fresh plant, pour 3 liters of boiling water and insist. You can add a spoonful of honey to the infusion. Such an infusion for the prevention of fungal diseases wipe shoes from the inside. It is believed that the infusion of mad cucumber relieves not only the fungus on the skin, but also on the walls.
Gout
Squeeze cucumber juice, mix with vinegar. Soak a cloth in the solution and apply to the sore spot.
Trophic ulcers
Crazy cucumber has been successfully used in the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds. For this you needprepare a decoction based on: a tablespoon of dried and crushed raw materials per glass of boiling water. Heat in a water bath for 15-20 minutes. Strain immediately and add water to make one glass of liquid again. For treatment, take a teaspoon of flour and a tablespoon of decoction, prepare a cake from it and apply it to the ulcer.
Hemorrhoids
Boil the cucumber fruit in sesame oil. Lubricate the hemorrhoidal bumps with the resulting product.
Internal use
It should be well understood that a mad cucumber is very poisonous. Even relatively small doses of it cause severe vomiting, diarrhea, drowsiness, weakness, respiratory failure and heart problems. Inside it can not be used by pregnant women and children.
Decoctions of this plant are drunk for jaundice, malaria, and worms.
The juice from the fruit has a stronger effect than the juice from the rest of the plant. The healing properties of the roots and the ground part are approximately equivalent.
Freshly squeezed mad cucumber juice is used for sore throats, diphtheria, otitis media, migraines, runny nose.
- To get rid of migraines, it is diluted with milk and instilled into the nose.
- From a cold, you can instill juice diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 4, or you can lubricate your nostrils with it.
- Pain in the ears is relieved by instillation of juice in the ears.
- With angina, the juice is diluted with honey and olive oil. The resulting product is lubricated with a throat.
Prickly fruit, or Echinocystis
Out of ignorance, many people call mad cucumber echinocystis, or, in a popular way, prickly, vesicle, shooting ivy. Indeed, these two plants are outwardly similar, especially in fruits. Echinocystis came to us from North America. Now it can be found in Europe and Asia, including Russia, and in the Mediterranean. The spread of Crazy Cucumber and Echinocystis is made so widespread by their ability to shoot seeds.
The two plants have a lot of differences. So, the flowers of echinocystis smell pleasant and attract bees. Creepers have antennae, with which they crawl up the support. The leaves are smoother than those of the mad cucumber. Flowers are not similar to cucurbit flowers and are panicles. The seeds are large, reaching one and a half centimeters. Echinocystis fruits are edible. They contain many vitamins and mineral s alts. Only people use this plant not for food, but to create a fragrant and beautiful hedge, decorate arbors and arches with it. The medicinal properties of Echinocystis have not yet been studied.
Anguria
Very rarely, anguria, similar to its fruits, is called a mad cucumber. This plant has nothing to do with mad cucumber or echinocystis. It is very decorative, often grown to decorate not only verandas in private houses, but also balconies in high-rise buildings. Its fruits, indeed somewhat similar to the fruits of a wild cucumber, have a pleasant taste and are used as ordinary vegetables. They don't shoot seeds. Some people, seeing spherical green sausages strewn withthorns, they think that this is a mad cucumber, although this is where their similarities end. So, in anguria, the leaves are more like grape or watermelon than cucumber. The stalk is longer, and the fruits are somewhat larger.
Growing
If you wish, you can start a medicinal mad cucumber in your garden plot. Seeds are best planted in the fall so that they spend the winter in the cold. It is desirable that a place be determined in advance for them. If not, you can plant the seeds somewhere on the sidelines, and transplant them in the spring as seedlings. For spring planting, the seeds must be kept in the refrigerator for two to three months. There is no need to make holes or grooves in the ground, the seeds are placed on top of the soil, watered and left alone.
Seeds must be collected very carefully, as ripe fruits are just waiting for someone to touch them in order to throw out a fountain of mucus at a speed of 10 meters per second. To "outsmart" the plant, you need to carefully, without touching the vine, place the fruit in a plastic bag and shake. After the mucus, rinse and dry the seeds.
