Moldavian dragonhead seeds

Moldavian dragonhead (Moldavian snakehead) / Dracocephalum moldavica

An annual herbaceous plant with a thin taproot and an upright tetrahedral branched stem 40-60 cm high. The leaves are short-petiolate, opposite, oblong-ovate or oblong-lanceolate, serrated along the edge. Flowers with a pale purple or white corolla, collected in a racemose inflorescence.

The fruits are trihedral oblong nuts of a dark brown color. Moldavian snakehead is not picky about heat. Seeds germinate at a temperature of 5-7°C. Seedlings and adult plants endure a long cold snap. Light-requiring, in dark areas reduces the yield of green mass and seeds. It can be grown on all soils, except for very acidic and waterlogged ones. Gives good yields on fairly fertile chernozem, sandy loam and light loamy, moderately moist soils.

Responsive to fertilizers. Sowing can be done before winter and early spring. Seeding depth is 2-3 cm. Sow in row, two-line or wide-row method. The row-spacing with the row method is 20 cm, with the wide-row method - 60. With the two-line sowing method, the width between the lines is 18-25 cm, between the tapes - 40 cm. 0.8-1 g (8-10 kg / ha) of seeds are required per 1 m2 with two-row sowing and 0.5-0.6 (5-6 kg/ha) with wide-row. Shoots appear on the 10-15th day. The snakehead usually blooms in mid-July, less often in late June or early August and blooms until the end of September.

Seeds ripen in the second half of August - September. Plantation care consists of weeding, loosening, thinning seedlings (by 8-10 cm). For medicinal purposes, grass (stems, leaves, flowers) is used. The above-ground organs of the plant contain essential oil - up to 0.17% (in fresh herbs). The seeds contain fatty oil (up to 20%). The grass is harvested at the beginning of flowering, cutting off the upper part of the plant. Green mass is used immediately or dried for several days, in the shade or in dryers at a temperature not exceeding 40 ° C. Store in a tightly closed container.

Seeds are harvested when they are ripe at the bottom of the inflorescence. As a spice, leaves and flowers are used in fresh and dried form. The plant has a pleasant smell of lemon, serves as a seasoning for various vegetable and meat dishes - salads, borscht, vegetable soups. Greens are placed 1-2 minutes before serving. Dry greens, in addition, can be added to tea, compote, homemade kvass, used for pickling cucumbers and tomatoes. It is sprinkled with meat and fish dishes three minutes before readiness.

In medicine, it is used as a sedative, analgesic, wound healing and anticonvulsant. Stimulates appetite, enhances the activity of the digestive system. An infusion of herbs is used for heart palpitations, neuralgia, migraine, headache, aches and colds; externally - for rinsing with toothache. Fresh crushed leaves accelerate the healing of festering wounds. In case of rheumatism or bruises, compresses from snakehead grass are applied to the sore spot.