How to dry birch bath brooms, technology for preparing birch branches. Why do we need black stripes on a birch? What are the black stripes on a birch trunk for?

white-leaved trees,

Black and white bark.

Yes, only birch has two barks. White and black speckled. Birch is considered a symbol of Russia. The black bark is the lungs of the tree. The birch breathes through these specks.

If you try to answer figuratively, then you can compare black stripes with light trees. If you look for a more scientific explanation, you can find confirmation that this is not just a bizarre and undoubtedly beautiful pattern on a birch table in the form of black stripes, but also lentils (another name for black stripes on a birch trunk) device through which oxygen enters. Lentils with each year and the growth of the tree appear more distinctly and their number is growing.

so that in winter they would not be confused with a snowdrift, for example, partridges would not be killed. or the same hunter on skis all happy and joyful, wow, how will I go. and hell is there. either skis don’t go .... and so she is with stripes and everyone is fine, everyone is happy)

It is unlikely that this is for something specific, it’s just that everything is beautiful in nature, and such a beautiful tree as a birch is sung by poets and lyricists because it is part of Russian culture, its patterns are just an ornament that gives aesthetic pleasure.

Very good question! How nice to look at the birch, the symbol of Russia! The white trunk with transverse black dashes is pleasing to the eye. But this is not just decoration, these are devices through which the tree trunk breathes. It's just that in the leaves, the process of gas exchange and the removal of excess moisture passes through the stomata. And the bark of the tree has already overgrown these devices, so they use lentil dashes. It’s just that the birch trunk itself is white due to betulin, and the lentils stand out so clearly.

Black stripes on birch plants are really needed. And even vitally necessary for such trees. Without them, they simply would not be able to carry on with their existence.

The whole point is that oxygen enters through the black stripes. Thus the birch breathes. Therefore, for a normal life, birch trees have such stripes on the bark.

In addition, birch without black marks would lose its uniqueness and individuality. Although this was originally intended by nature, it gives the trees a special beauty. Whether this tree can be called the most beautiful or not is everyone's business. But it seems to me that birches are very nice trees. And the stripes do not spoil them.

The black stripes on the birch have their own name, they are called lentils. With the help of these lentils, the tree breathes, thanks to them, additional gas exchange occurs. By the way, they are looser compared to white bark.

In birch, the bark, like human skin, has its own pores through which the birch breathes in the truest sense of the word. Let's take a look at human skin.



As you can see in the picture, the skin has pores arranged in small triangles through which the skin breathes.

Now let's look at birch bark.



Birch bark also has pores similar to human ones, only the nature of their shape is slightly different.

It is noteworthy that birch bark was previously actively used in medicine:

White bark, one might say, is the old (non-living) bark of a tree. Lentils break through it, allowing the tree to breathe.

Birch bark is a very dense material that protects the tree from weather conditions (heat, cold, rain, etc.), that is, it performs protective functions for the tree, like skin for a person. Through the bark, the tree also breathes additionally, thanks to dark horizontal stripes called lentils. Lentils have a looser tissue than the bark itself, allowing air to pass through. Thanks to them, the tree breathes.





Many times I asked myself a similar question and only recently found out why, or rather, why these very black stripes / stripes are needed on birch trees.

The white part of the birch trunk, which occupies a much larger part / area, neither water nor oxygen, which the tree needs so much for growth, for breathing.

And these black stripes, dashes, which are called lentils, as opposed to birch bark, allow oxygen to pass through, which is necessary for a tree.

We can say that these are the pores through which the birch breathes.

Bath massage helps to get rid of many ailments associated with 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?

Sincere lines by Tyutchev, Yesenin and Rubtsov were dedicated to this tree. It is about him that emigrants remember when they remember their homeland. The white-barreled 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 for hundreds of years Russia conquered Siberia and the borders Central Asia, cedar and saxaul could not change the traditional idea of ​​Russian nature;
• Bright and memorable appearance. The white trunk, dotted with black dashed stripes, makes the tree unlike anything else and stands out among other species;
• The plant was a symbol of the pagan Slavic deity Beregini, who protected from ailments, evil spirits and ensured fertility;
• Slavic tribes used the bark of this tree as a means of 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.

Technology of drying rods with leaves

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

When drying branches, the following points must be considered:

• Avoid active air exchange in the storage room. Otherwise, the unique aroma of birch leaves will go away forever;
• No foreign odors. Freshly painted walls can ruin a dozen brooms;
• Temperature conditions are in the range from 8 to 27 degrees;
• Avoid exposure to direct sunlight and exposure to high humidity;
• The best place to dry is non-residential premises in the house (attic, pantry, garage);
• The duration of the procedure is about 14 days;
• Ready-made dry brooms are hung (not folded!) To the ceiling and left to be stored like this until X hour, until the time comes to put them into practice.

Why do we need black stripes on a birch trunk?

One of the most striking features of the national Russian tree- stripes dotting his trunk from top to bottom. These formations have not only an aesthetic function, but also play an important role in the life support of the plant. They carry oxygen necessary for the breath of the tree.

Are formed lentils- this is the name of the black strokes on the trunk - as follows:

1. The skin on a young plant has special micro-holes, or stomata. They form between a pair of cells and are slit-like;
2. 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;
3. On the surface of the trunk, a tubercle is formed from a porous material that perfectly passes air;
4. A crack may form at the site of the stomata, which further increases gas exchange;
5. 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 not wait until the owner puts them into action. But here's the problem: the presence of hot water and sewerage in each apartment spoiled the inhabitants of the cities.

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

• Dip the broom in a vat of warm water several times. Then pour a couple of buckets of hot water into it and wait until the rods with foliage soften;
• Apply treatment immediately hot water not recommended: 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 a lying person so that hot air envelops him from head to toe;
• Sliding brooms all over the body, without coming off;
• Then comes the turn of small, barely noticeable strokes to stimulate blood circulation;
• If the temperature in the steam room is very high, you can periodically lower the bundle into cold water to make you feel more comfortable.

Suvel birch: what is it? (photo)

wood used by humans economic activity, is not always in perfect condition. Various shortcomings in the physical characteristics of wood material are called defects. In hardwoods, the so-called souvelle- a defect in the structure of the fibers, in which a smooth outgrowth is formed on the trunk.

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

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

The texture of the growth can be different: from marble to red-brown. In most cases, dark shades are observed.

Despite the fact that in logging the suvel is recognized as a defect in wood, folk craftsmen highly appreciate this anomalous 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 reproducing its own kind even after a forest fire. Among the methods of reproduction are:

1. seeds. Occurs when there is open space. When pollinated female flowers males form seeds that fall to the ground in the autumn-winter period. Having survived the cold, they successfully germinate in the spring;
2. undergrowth. If the tree is not cared for in any way for several years, then young shoots will appear near its base. They are formed from buds "sleeping" on the root system of the plant;
3. cuttings. To do this, in spring or summer, shoots are cut from a birch tree 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. Bury the cutting in an open and well-lit area 2-3 centimeters into the soil.

The seed method of reproduction 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 being included in the Red Book: how to weave bast shoes, embroider on a hoop, how to dry birch bath brooms. While the achievements of civilization have not completely destroyed the tradition of bathing, we 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:

• Complain ▲ ▼

Why is the beautiful white canvas of the birch trunk pierced with black stripes? Everything is very simple. The fact is that the birch bark is very dense, the cells of the bark 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 the black stripes on the birch trunk come to the rescue - this lentils. Below them is a looser structure, the intercellular distance in which is much larger. Air freely penetrates to the living cells of the trunk, providing the birch with the process of respiration.

The white bark of birch trees is the result of the content of a rare pigment in the tree. white color called betulin. The more of this pigment is contained in the bark, the lighter it looks. It is not yet completely clear 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 the white color as a free supplement.

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 range 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 common, such as castor bean ricin and atropine belenes. In general, plants have invented many different ways fend for themselves, and birch betulin is only one of them.

To others interesting features betulin is its ability to trigger cell apoptosis in some types of tumors, reduce the size of atherosclerotic plaques, and promote weight loss in people with obesity. Hundreds scientific works. 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, the Schmidt birch and the Dahurian birch, which grow in our Far East, have a dark trunk. And the cherry birch, which comes from North America, - 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. This is where the black bars 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 gets, the more noticeable the "lentils" become.

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

1. On our planet there are about a hundred species of birches. In Russia this tree species is one of the most common (cf. Interesting Facts about forests).
2. Birch buds and leaves are actively used in medicine as an antipyretic, bactericidal, diuretic and wound healing agent.
3. The image of a birch is widespread in the culture of the Slavs, Finno-Ugric peoples, Scandinavians and some other peoples.
4. The word "birch" in the Proto-Slavic language is derived from the verb "whiten, brighten."
5. Most birches grow up to 30-45 meters with a girth of the trunk up to 150 centimeters. There are also shrubs in this genus, barely rising from the ground.
6. Birch seeds are extremely light - 5000 seeds weigh about 1 gram, so the wind can carry them a great distance from the mother tree.
7. Most birches tolerate permafrost well and grow far beyond the Arctic Circle.
8. Birches can grow in almost any soil - wet, swampy, dry and rocky.
9. The average life expectancy of birch trees is about 100 years, although some trees live up to 400 years or more.
10. The stag beetle lives in birch wood - the largest beetle in Europe (see interesting facts about insects).
11. Some types of mushrooms grow exclusively under birches - these are boletus, birch White mushroom, black breast and pink wave, as well as some varieties of russula.
12. Orthodox Christians often decorate churches and houses with birch branches on Holy Trinity Day.
13. Birch leaves and alum make yellow wool dye.
14. In the past, birch torches were often used to light peasant huts, because this wood burns brightly, and at the same time almost does not smoke.
15. Birch firewood is considered the best.
16. Birch brooms are not only an obligatory attribute of Russian baths, but also feed for livestock, which is harvested for the winter.
17. It is not recommended to build any buildings from birch logs, because the wood quickly begins to rot.
18. Birch wood is used to make skis, toys, plywood and butts for firearms. Caps (growths that form on different parts birches) due to the beautiful pattern of wood is used for cutting snuff boxes, cigarette cases, caskets and decorative pieces of furniture.
19. Birch bark (birch bark) is an excellent material for weaving baskets, bast shoes, baskets and boxes.
20. In ancient times, birch bark was used as paper - it is not afraid of moisture, thanks to which many records of the 11th-15th centuries have survived to this day.
21. The peoples inhabiting Far East and the North, make boats out of birch bark and build their own dwellings (plagues).
22. Birch sap, the collection of which begins after the first spring thaw, is used to prepare a variety of drinks. One large tree can produce more than a bucket of juice per day without harm to itself.
23. According to ancient folk beliefs, the smell of birch helps to protect oneself from the evil eye and saves from melancholy. It was also considered that Birch juice, collected on certain days of March and April, is able to purify the blood.
24. When birch leaves decompose, substances are formed that stimulate the growth of other plants.

WHY BIRCH IS WHITE

Throughout the life of a birch, from young age until old age, the bark that dresses its trunk changes greatly in its own way. appearance. In a small birch, which is not higher than the knee, the stem is covered with brownish bark. A middle-aged birch has a pure white bark with black dashes that run across the trunk. During this period, the trees are especially elegant. In an old birch, living out its life, the trunk is covered with spotted black and white bark. White islands of birch bark are scattered on a common black background. Such a spotty picture is obtained because the tree grows in thickness and deep cracks form on the bark. They are not overgrown with birch bark, but with other protective tissues that have a dark color. Birch bark is preserved only in the intervals between cracks.

All our further story will be about birch bark. The main purpose of birch bark is to protect the internal living tissues of the trunk from drying out. This is precisely its main, vital role for the tree. And the birch bark is arranged in such a way that it protects the trunk well from water loss. It suits its purpose well. The cells of the birch bark close to each other very tightly, like bricks with good masonry. Between them there are no gaps - intercellular spaces. In addition, the cells are firmly connected, firmly glued together. Cell walls are impregnated with a special fat-like substance that does not allow water to pass through. All this ensures the preservation of moisture inside the trunk.

Birch bark grows in thickness every year. Over the years it gets thicker and thicker. But the increase each year is small - like a sheet of ordinary writing paper. Interestingly, the growth comes from within. Therefore, the youngest layers are located deepest, and the oldest, on the contrary, lie on the surface. The outer layers are often partially shed in the form of fragments of a thin white film, which are fluttered by the wind.

When we tear off a piece of birch bark, we notice that it is thinly layered. Each layer is the growth of one year. Separate layers are tightly soldered together, forming a single whole. Birch bark is like a thin book with many pages stuck together.

Now about the coloring of birch bark. Why is she white! The fact is that in the cells of birch bark there is a special coloring matter of white color. Therefore, the birch trunk gets dirty. If you touch a birch in dark clothes, a trace will remain, like chalk. So, in this case, the whiteness is due to a special substance. This phenomenon in flora very rare. As a rule, in plants, the situation is quite different. Nature almost always does without any white paint. There are many examples of this kind. The white petals of bird cherry, apple, lily of the valley and other plants do not contain any special dye. The petal cells are completely colorless and transparent, like the smallest droplets of water. But between them there are intercellular spaces filled with air. These microscopic voids reflect light and give the impression of a white coloration. There is a complete analogy with snow. Individual snowflakes are completely colorless and transparent, while snow is white. This is due to the fact that air gaps remain between the snowflakes. Moisten the snow with water - it will immediately lose its white color.

So, white color in plants is very common, and white paint is extremely rare, as an exception. This unusual phenomenon can be observed only at the birch.

You can tell a lot more interesting things about birch bark. It is impossible not to remember, for example, that this is the material on which our ancestors wrote. Birch bark letters were widely distributed in ancient Novgorod. Birch bark is, as it were, a kind of ancient Russian papyrus.

Previously, tar was extracted from birch bark, which was very widely used in everyday life. It needed a lot.

And remember that various household items are made from birch bark - all kinds of boxes, baskets, tueski, etc. This handicraft has survived to this day.

Finally, birch bark is very good for kindling stoves and fires. It is a highly combustible material. This property can be useful to us even now. With the help of birch bark, for example, you can make a fire even when it rains. And sometimes it is necessary.

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Lyshchenko Irina, a student of the 3rd grade of the Volosovo Primary School

I chose this topic for my research, because this issue is interesting not only for children, but for adult serious people - professors and academicians. It became interesting for me to find out where the whitest birches grow, and how this tree differs from other trees. Starting to work on this topic, I put forward several hypotheses and suggested that white birch is due to unusual substances in its bark, perhaps this is a protective property of birch, or maybe this is how birch attracts insects during flowering .. .

Download:

Preview:

The work was done by a 3rd grade student

Lyshchenko Irina

"WHY IS BIRCH WHITE?"

Volosovo

2013

Introduction

Why this topic was chosen:

I chose this topic for my research, because this issue is of interest not only to children, but also to adult serious people - professors and academicians.

Purpose of the study:to find out why, after all, white birch?

Research objective:

- find information in additional sources about what are

birches;

Find out what is unusual about them;

Find out where the whitest birches grow, how they differ from others

Trees.

Hypothesis: white birch possible

To attract insects;

Due to unusual substances in the bark;

This is her protective property.

Used materials:

In the study were used: the Internet, children's encyclopedias, personal observations.

1. birch characteristics.

Birch is a beautiful tree30-45 m high with thin, hanging branches and a white trunk.

White bark, except for birch, nature has not given to any plant. True, the bark remains smooth and white only on young trees. On old trunks, it cracks heavily on the outside and turns black and gray, especially in the lower part.

The crown is often weeping due to the fact that the branches are "hanging" (hence the name of the plant).Young branches are red-brown, with resinous warts, which is why this birch is called warty.

The buds are small, oily, they contain a lot of essential oils.

The leaves are round, toothed; fruits - nuts. The weight of 1000 fruits is only 0.1 g. The flowers are small, inconspicuous, collected in inflorescences - earrings.

In the conditions of Central Russia, birch blossoms in early May and even at the end of April. At the same time the birch blossoms. The fruits ripen in July-August and immediately begin to fall off.

The age limit for most birches does not exceed 100-120 years, although some trees can reach 300 years.

The vitality of this "wonder tree" still surprises scientists. During the experiments, birch branches were placed in chambers where a terrible frost reigned - minus 273 degrees Celsius. But when the branches were taken out of the chamber, they, thawing, came to life.

1. Distribution of birch.

Many birch species grow in the temperate and cold zones of Eurasia and North America. However, birch does not tolerate extreme heat, which limits its distribution in the south.

There are about 120 species. They differ in growth, in the color of the bark. There are among the birches and shrubs. The most famous of them is the dwarf birch growing in the tundra of Siberia. It reaches only 1 m in height.

Not all birches are white. The dark bark of the "Daurian" birch, it grows in Transbaikalia. But on the Kuriles and on the Japanese islands, "red" birches grow. They got their name from the fact that they have orange-red wood. There are also completely non-white Schmidt birches. It is also called "iron", because the wood of this birch is stronger than cast iron.

The whitest birches grow in the mountains. "Paper birch" in the mountains of America, "useful" - in the Himalayas, and "fluffy" - in the mountains of Scotland.

Four types of birch grow on the territory of the Russian Federation: common white birch, warty and weeping birch; fluffy birch; shrub birch and dwarf.

1. The structure of the woody layer of birch.

The woody layer of birch is the bark. The bark is usually smooth, covered with a layer of cork tissue - birch bark. Most often white with black stripes, but there is yellowish or pinkish, very rarely even black.

Dark horizontal stripes are extended over the white trunk. These are lentils. They peel off easily. The birch bark does not allow water or gases to pass through, and through the loose tissue of the lentils, oxygen enters the trunk, which is necessary for the breathing of the tree.

If you injure a birch trunk in early spring, then transparent, sweet-tasting juice will begin to ooze from the incision.

1. Why are birches so white?

A) The matter is in the composition of the woody layer of birch. If you remove a piece of bark from a tree, then something like white powder. This substance is called betulin - a white organic pigment and is poured out of the cells of the cortex.It contains a lot of silver ions, which have an antimicrobial effect. In the bark of “ribbed” birch, its content exceeds 5%, in “layered” birch, the content of betulin reaches 14%, and in “Manzhurskaya” bark, up to 27%.

Of the species growing in Russia, the maximum content of betulin is observed in the bark of downy birch - up to 44%

B) The fact is that in the mountains there is very hard ultraviolet radiation, and it is to reflect it that plants have “learned” to protect the trunk with a white mirror over millions of years.

1. Research result.

As a result of my research, the hypothesis of attracting insects due to the white color of the birch bark was not confirmed. Insects are most attracted to the smell of young leaves and flowers.

The hypothesis about the presence of an unusual substance in the birch bark was confirmed by the research of scientists and personal observations. When you tear off a piece of bark from a birch, a white velvety coating remains on your fingers.

And the fact that birches are very white, just white, and not at all white, depends on the place where they grow. In Russia, the most good conditions for their growth, and in the north and in the mountains, conditions are difficult. This confirms the hypothesis about the protective properties of birch.

Conclusion:

The white color of the birch bark is given by a resinous substance - betulin.