Wood piper (Angelica sylvestris); Celeriac family (Ariaceae), or Umbrella family (Umbelliferae); forest piper
Dudnik is the closest wild relative of our common garden crops – dill, carrots and celery. It is a herbaceous perennial 70-200 cm tall. The rhizome of the pipe is thick, fleshy, the stem is bare, with a gray hair, branching in the upper part.
The leaves of the plant are two- and three-lobed, finely serrated at the edges. The flowers are small, white or pink, in complex umbrella inflorescences, blooming in the second half of summer. The plant grows in wet meadows, among tall grasses, in swampy, wet places and near water bodies throughout the European part of Russia, except for the Far North. In Ukraine, the wood piper grows throughout the territory, except for the Crimea, in forests, among shrubs, along the banks of rivers and ponds, in wet meadows.
Medicinal, food and honey-bearing plant – that’s what a wild relative from the umbrella family!
Rhizomes of plants with roots are collected for medicinal purposes. They are carefully cleaned from the soil, washed in cold water, cut lengthwise and dried in well-ventilated rooms or in the attic, and in good sunny weather – in the air under shelter.
Wild piper grass is a real source of useful substances. It contains protein (more than 11.5%), fats (more than 7%), fiber (almost 19%), various macro- and microelements, including titanium, vitamins (ascorbic acid) (up to 1150 mg%). The fruits are rich in fatty oil (17%). The rhizomes contain essential oil.
Tincture of the rhizomes of the pipe plant is an effective diuretic and carminative, like, after all, the products of other celery plants. It stimulates sweating and has an expectorant effect. Tea with piper or tincture from the rhizomes is drunk for indigestion, sluggish urination and catarrh of the lungs. The powder of the rhizome, taken three times a day on the tip of a knife, relieves flatulence. The juice of a fresh plant is instilled into the cavity of a sick tooth to relieve toothache. Externally, a decoction of rhizomes is used for strengthening baths, and their tincture is used for rubbing against sciatica, gout and rheumatism.
Young shoots and petioles of leaves, peeled from the skin, are used for food. Their use is very useful due to the high content of vitamin C and various trace elements in the plant. Fresh young chopped shoots are added to vitamin soups and suns. Leaves with petioles are dried for storage, salted, and in winter they are used to season soups, borschts, and vegetable soups. Flower buds boiled in sugar syrup are an exquisite dessert dish. Buds can be boiled in salted water, and if you pickle them, you get a great snack.
The flowers of the bagpipe secrete nectar, which contains a large amount of sugar (100 flowers secrete up to 20 mg of sugar per day). During the flowering of the plant, the bee family collects up to 5-9 kg of honey, and the honey productivity of the plant reaches 200 kg from 1 hectare. Honey of the piper is light amber, sometimes with a reddish tint, crystallizes slowly.
Infusion of rhizomes. 20 g of crushed rhizomes are brewed in 1 liter of boiling water, filtered. Take 1 glass three times a day as tea.
Tincture of rhizomes. Crushed rhizomes in a ratio of 1:5 insist on 70% alcohol. Take 20-30 drops three times a day.