Goose onions are herbaceous plants for outdoor use. The goose onion is yellow. Combination with other plants
Goose bow (geyjia, eiderdown, bird onion, yellow snowdrop) is a small herbaceous bulbous plant from the lily family, widespread almost throughout Eurasia and northern Africa.
Chemical composition
The medicinal properties of goose onions are due to its chemical composition.
Both the herb and the plant bulbs are rich in sulfur-containing garlic essential oils.
In addition to oils, bulbs also contain carotene, B vitamins, ascorbic acid, enzymes, a number of organic acids, phosphorus, calcium, sugars, nitrogenous compounds, saponins, glycosides, and bioflavonoids.
Beneficial features
Small onion bulbs are edible. Moreover, fresh they are a storehouse of vitamins and microelements necessary for the body, therefore the plant is often used as an effective remedy for vitamin deficiencies in the preparation of spring salads. They can also be eaten baked or boiled. Peasants in lean years ground the bulbs into powder and mixed it with flour from cereals.
IN folk medicine the use of goose onions is advisable as a disinfectant (antiseptic), wound healing and drawing agent.
A decoction of bulbs has long been considered an effective medicine for jaundice, edema, and bronchial asthma. As an external agent, it was used to accelerate the healing of old wounds and ulcers that are difficult to heal. The places of insect bites are treated with the juice of yellow snowdrop, the onion crushed into gruel is applied to the foci of inflammation.
The beneficial properties of goose onions are used to increase the overall tone of the body, combat chronic fatigue, and improve overall well-being.
To make the plant as useful as possible, goose onions should be harvested for food use in the last weeks of spring or early summer, for medicinal purposes - in early spring (before flowering) or already in autumn.
Indications for use
It should be noted that gaijia is not included in the official list of medicinal plants. But, despite the fact that traditional medicine does not use healing properties goose, folk medicine uses the plant in the treatment of diseases such as:
- Avitaminosis;
- Swelling;
- Hepatitis;
- Open wounds (including difficult and long-term non-healing);
- Trophic ulcers;
- Epilepsy;
- Bronchial asthma (as an adjunct to basic therapy).
Another area of \u200b\u200bapplication of the plant is cosmetology. The goose bow has established itself as effective remedy from acne. In addition, masks based on it are used to cleanse highly polluted, porous skin, to get rid of freckles, and to improve complexion. In combination with natural honey, yellow snowdrop stimulates hair growth.
Contraindications
Despite all its value, the goose bow also has contraindications. The main thing is the individual intolerance to the substances that make up this plant.
It should be used with caution by pregnant women, during lactation, when treating children.
If you experience any adverse events, you should consult a doctor.
Home remedies for goose onions
The use of goose onions inside is possible in the form of a decoction, which is prepared according to this recipe: 1 tbsp. pour fresh onions 1/2 cup boiling water, boil for 15 minutes over low heat, insist for 1-2 hours and strain. Take the medicine 3-4 times a day for 1 tbsp.
As a wound-healing external agent, juice squeezed out of fresh bulbs or pulp crushed into pulp is used.
For porous and dirty skin, a mask with goose onions and honey is recommended. For its preparation, the onions are rubbed on a fine grater, the resulting mass is mixed with a small amount of honey. The mixture is applied to the face in an even layer, avoiding the area around the eyes, left for 10 minutes, and then washed off with water at room temperature.
The following recipe is great for regularly treating oily skin and combating acne: Mix one dessert spoon of chopped goose onions with egg white. Apply the mask on the face for 10 minutes, then rinse with water at room temperature. After the procedure, if possible, wipe the skin with an ice cube (best of all with ice from a frozen broth of calendula or parsley).
To get rid of freckles, this tool will help: chop the onion bulbs into gruel and squeeze through cheesecloth. Lubricate freckles and age spots on the face with the resulting juice twice or three times a day. It should be remembered that after applying the product to the skin for several hours, avoid exposure to sunlight.
A mask for normal to dry skin is prepared from a tablespoon of goose onions grated on a fine grater, beaten egg white (one is enough) and cream. The cream is taken in such an amount that after mixing all the ingredients, a mass is obtained that resembles sour cream in consistency. The mass is applied to the face for 10 minutes and washed off with warm water.
You can take care of aging skin with the help of this tool: rinse the bulbs, dry and bake in the oven, after cooling, knead with a fork until mushy. Apply the resulting mask to a previously cleansed and greased face with olive oil, rinse off after 15 minutes with warm water, and then rinse cold water or rub your skin with an ice cube. Rating: 4.8 - 4 votes
Goose onion, or YELLOW SNOWFLAKE (lat. Gagea). Popular names: bird onion, yellow gooseberry, yellow snowdrop, viper onion, yellow flower. The generic Latin name comes from the surname of the English amateur botanist T. Gage (Thomas Gage, 1781-1820). Previously, some types of goose onions were used in folk medicine, and also eaten boiled.
Once upon a time there were a lot of goose onions in meadows and forest glades. And old people say that flocks of wild geese always descended on these meadows and glades in the spring to take a break here after a difficult journey and nibble on the shoots of the onion, which they loved very much ... That's where the full name of this early spring flower came from - goose bow... And rightly so, as soon as the first flowers of a goose onion appear, flocks of migratory geese appear high, high in the sky, flying in the spring from south to north, to their homeland.
It is a small genus of small plants of the lily family; a low-growing perennial bulbous herb with six small yellow flowers and a small onion 8 to 15 cm tall. These are the smallest plants in the lily subfamily - from 3 to 35 cm high. Flowers are collected in a bunch on a low stalk. And next to the stalk, one single long and narrow leaf rises from the ground. Tepals are 13 -18 mm long, lanceolate, obtuse, greenish outside, stamens half as long as the perianth. The fruit is a spherical capsule. By the evening and in bad weather, the inflorescences close tightly, and since the petals are greenish on the outside, they become invisible to the eye. The fruits ripen in May-June.
Yellow blooms in early spring in April. In spring, their yellow star-shaped flowers cover mountain meadows, gravelly slopes and cracks in rocks; they are found in the steppe, sometimes on saline soil and limestones, in separate clumps in deciduous forests and on lawns in parks or, like weeds, in crops.
Goose onions grow in steppes and forests, on dry mountain slopes and in semi-deserts and among thickets of bushes. There are about 100 species in the temperate zone of Eurasia, including Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the Caucasus, Siberia, Far East, Central Asia. In the forest zone, the most common goose yellow (G. lutea). Many species of Goose onions are eaten by animals on pastures, but they do not have a significant forage value.
FROM therapeutic purpose bulbs are used, which are harvested in spring - before flowering and in autumn. The chemical composition is not well understood. The whole plant is known to contain garlic essential oils, which contain sulfur. Traditional medicine almost never used goose onions.
Previously, the decoction of the bulbs was taken orally for dropsy, edema, jaundice, bronchial asthma. Outwardly crushed onions were applied to improve the reparative processes of ulcers, long-term non-healing wounds, and erosions. A decoction of bulbs in milk is given to children in small doses for epilepsy. Chopped bulbs are used as an external wound healing agent.
The goose is interesting and how edible plant... The bulbs are edible, the leaves with a peculiar garlic smell are used for making salads. Small onions are edible when boiled or baked. In the old days, in lean years, the peasants collected the bulbs of this herb, dried, ground and mixed with bread.
Method of preparation and use: Boil 1 tablespoon fresh goose onions for 5 minutes in 0.5 cups of boiling water, leave for 1-2 hours, drain. Take 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day.
Variety of types of goose onions
There are about 100 species in the temperate zone of Eurasia, including Russia. In the European part of Russia there are 4 types of goose onions: yellow (G. lutea), small (G. minima), granular (G. granulosa) and ruddy (G. rubicunda). Outwardly, all these species are very similar to each other and differ mainly in the structure of the bulbs and integumentary scales on these bulbs.
- Yellow goose onion (G. lutea (L.) Ker Gawl.) Is the most widespread species in our area. Plant up to 25 cm high; the bulb is single, without small bulbs, the perianth leaves are green outside. The apex of the basal leaf has the shape of a cap.
- Small goose (G. minima (L.) Ker Gawl.) Is a plant up to 15 cm high with pointed tepals. Very quickly vegetatively disintegrated with the help of small bulbs formed at the base of the bulb.
- Ruddy or reddish goose onions (G. rubicunda Meinsh.) - plant up to 15 cm high; single bulb, without small bulbs. Tepals are reddish outside - hence the name. At the end of flowering, small bulbs are formed in the inflorescence. The species is included in the Red Data Books of Nature of the Leningrad Region and St. Petersburg.
- Granular goose onion (G. granulosa) - a rare species listed in the Red Book. It is located on the eastern border of its distribution and has food value. A small bulbous plant, with a bulb planted in a circle under a common shell with even smaller bulbs and one lanceolate basal leaf. The stem is leafless. The umbrella-shaped inflorescence consists of 1-5 flowers. Petals 1.5 cm long, with green or reddish-brown stripes on the outside, fruit is a capsule
- Meadow goose (G. pratensis) - a plant barely reaching a height of 5-20 cm, found under hedges and tall grasses in places with calcareous soil. It has the most beautiful yellow star-shaped flowers of all goose bows.
- Bulbous goose (G. granulosa Turcz.) Is a plant up to 15 cm high with numerous small bulbs formed at the base of the bulb, pedicels are pubescent.
- Flowering goose onion (G. peduncularis) - this onion naturally grows in the Balkans and North Africa. Its peduncles, bearing up to 7 yellow star-shaped flowers, are shorter than the leaves, the length of which reaches 6-30 cm.
- Covered goose (G. spathacea) - this plant often goes unnoticed, because it does not bloom in the shade, only under bright sunbeams small yellow stars are formed on it.
- Pubescent goose (G. villosa) - in spring, among the long narrow leaves, arrow stems appear, bearing up to 15 small star-shaped flowers.
- Fibrous Goose Onion (G.fibrosa) - In spring and summer this small bulbous plant forms erect flowers, collected in umbrellas; the perianth is green on the outside and yellow on the inside.
- Greek goose onion (G. graeca). In plants of this species, narrow leaves are 4-12 cm long. In spring, it forms inflorescences of 5 white flowers, on which purple veins are clearly visible. This species is not hardy, therefore it is grown in a greenhouse or a rock garden. After the flowers wither, the plant is not watered.
Bright green, low, up to 35 cm, grass with sunny yellow petals would hardly have attracted close attention if it were not for the mass of useful properties of its composition.
Chemical composition
Most often, in the vastness of our latitudes, you can find yellow goose onions. We will consider its chemical composition. So, parts of the plant contain:
- garlic-scented essential oils;
- mineral salts of some trace elements;
- carotene and fiber;
- phosphorus, sulfur and iodine;
- polysaccharide inulin.
Did you know? There is a story that when returning from wintering from the south, while resting in the glades, they were happy to pluck out inconspicuous green shoots with small yellow flowers... So the plant got its name "goose onion", or "gosyatnik", and later people became interested in it and its properties.
What is useful
Most of all, goose onions are valued as an antiseptic, a remedy for healing wounds, and a storehouse of vitamins, but the description of its composition suggests another, no less beneficial effect on the body. For example, inulin in tubers is one of the main components in medicines for diabetics, heart disease, in the treatment of diseases of the digestive tract and the nervous system.
Vitamin C- the first assistant in the fight against vitamin deficiency, anemia, viruses and respiratory diseases. Regular consumption of ascorbic acid strengthens the body's immune system.
Nicotinic acid, or vitamin PP, normalizes the work of the digestive tract, cardiac activity, activates the liver, and participates in the recovery processes of the body. Its presence or absence in proper quantities determines the health of the skin. 
The benefits of the plant are observed in the treatment of such painful conditions:
- avitaminosis;
- skin problems, including wounds and ulcers;
- gastrointestinal diseases;
- edema (including in pregnant women);
- diabetes;
- slagging of the body;
- fragility of bone tissue;
- pressure surges;
- diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tract;
- metabolic problems;
- blood viscosity;
- epilepsy.
Did you know? They help the goose to breed in large areas. They are attracted to the seeds of the plant, and when insects pull the seeds into the nest, some of them are lost along the way. Subsequently, they sprout and thus fill new territories.
Procurement and storage of medicinal raw materials
In the spring, goose greens are collected, which are used for food. The bulbs are best harvested in the fall, when they are full of juice and have absorbed a lot of nutrients. The bulbs are dug out carefully, on a bayonet, so as not to accidentally damage them.
The raw materials are cleaned, but not washed, otherwise the juicy pulp will begin to rot. Thick paper is placed on the bottom of a cardboard or wooden box, and then the already peeled plant tubers.
Important! The box in which the goose meat will be stored must have openings for air access.
The storage room should also be well ventilated and dry. Goose retains medicinal properties no more than 2 years, and then loses some of its properties. 
Traditional medicine recipes
To replenish the supply of vitamins and minerals, plants are eaten in salads.
For the treatment of the skin apply an onion ground into a gruel, using it as a compress or lotion (for a small surface of the skin, 2 medium onions are enough). Both pulp and juice separately squeezed out of it are used. The bandages are usually left on the skin for a day, then changed.
For influenza and upper respiratory tract diseases the gruel is mixed with in a ratio of 1 × 1, using against microbes on mucous membranes and against sore throat.
To reduce swelling and asthma symptoms prepare a broth: 1 tablespoon of chopped onion is poured with 1 glass of boiling water, the mixture is boiled for about 5 minutes. Then let it brew and filter. The course of treatment is 2 weeks, if necessary, repeat it. The intake rate is 1 tablespoon 4 times a day. 
For the prevention of epileptic seizures prepare a decoction in milk: a little less than 1 cup and 2-3 chopped onions are boiled for 5 minutes. The broth is separated from the gruel, cooled and taken 1 tablespoon 3 times a day. The duration of administration depends on the frequency of attacks.
Home cosmetology recipes
Hair growth mask: 2 tablespoons and 4 tablespoons of gruel gruel are mixed until a homogeneous consistency and rubbed into the hair roots. Keep the mask under a towel for half an hour. Wash off with shampoo.
Mask for reducing pores of the face: onions (gruel) mixed with 1 teaspoon
Alternative medicine is often a panacea for those who have become disenchanted with therapies produced by the pharmaceutical industry. One of its leading directions was and remains herbal medicine, that is, herbal treatment. Its main advantages are undoubtedly affordability, no prescription, and safety.
Herbs, of course, do not give the same strong effect as, for example, antibiotics, but they have a more gentle effect on the body, and also reduce the risk of addiction and the development of negative side reactions. The main principles of herbal medicine are compliance with the measure and knowledge of the individual characteristics of the organism. Indeed, like any treatment, herbal medicine may have limitations and contraindications. Therefore, in order not to harm or aggravate the course of the disease, before using this or that herb, it is still better to consult with your doctor.
One of the most widely used plants in herbal medicine is the goose onion, which is also popularly known as the goose, viper onion, yellow snowdrop and bird onion. Every spring, its thin stems, crowned with bouquets of bright yellow flowers, can be seen in meadows, forest clearings, and just along the roads. Old people tell us that as soon as small yellow flowers bloomed in early spring, flocks of wild geese descended on the glades and forest edges strewn with them to rest, gain strength after a difficult flight and nibble the grass. Hence the name - goose bow.
In science, the goose onion is called Gagea Lutea L., which translates as yellow eider. The name was coined in honor of the Dutch scientist Thomas Gage, who first studied and described in detail the properties of this plant in the middle of the 17th century.
Botanical characteristic
The yellow goose onion is a short perennial of the lily family that blooms in the steppes, forests, dry mountain slopes and semi-deserts in early to mid-April. He is very unpretentious and is able to get along on gravelly slopes, rock crevices, on limestone and even on saline soils.
The onion is a small herbaceous plant with a height of 8 to 15 cm. Its stem is thin, and next to it a single long narrow leaf rises from the ground. Goose flowers have six small petals, bright yellow on the inside and greenish on the outside, they are collected in small bouquets on stems. Flowers are laid in the fall in the amount of 2 to 10 pieces, while the final formation and growth of shoots is completed by the end of winter. In early spring, flowering begins, but after a little more than a month, the stem and leaves die off, and only a bulb filled with nutrients remains in the ground.
The perianth leaves are obtuse, lanceolate, greenish on the outside, and their length ranges from 13 to 18 mm. Goose onions are propagated by bulbs. Its fruits are small spherical boxes. The beginning of their ripening period falls on May and June, and ripening is completed only by next spring.
In the evening and in bad weather, the inflorescences close tightly and become almost invisible due to the green color of the outer side of the petals.
Today, there are about one hundred varieties of goose onions. Africa is considered his homeland. It was from there that at one time it came to European countries and then spread widely across the entire width of the temperate climatic zone of the Eurasian continent.
Beneficial features
The goose herb, like all onions, is rich in garlic essential oils that contain sulfur. The same essential oils are also found in plant bulbs, which are used in folk medicine to treat liver diseases, bronchial asthma, poorly healing wounds, erosions and ulcers, as well as a decongestant. A broth of gooseweed prepared in milk was given to young children to prevent epileptic seizures.
Besides essential oils in chemical composition bulbs contain B vitamins, ascorbic acid, carotene, fiber, organic acids, enzymes, sugars, calcium, sulfur, phosphorus, nitrogen compounds, flavonoids, saponins, glycosides and other equally valuable components.
As a medicinal raw material, bulbs of yellow goose onions are harvested in early spring, even before the first flowers bloom, and also in autumn. For this purpose, the bulbs are dug up, dried and then crushed.
Thanks to its active ingredients, goose onions:
- Has antimicrobial effect;
- Reduces fragility of bones;
- Prevents the development of sclerosis;
- Normalizes the course of metabolic processes in the body;
- Reduces blood sugar levels;
- Stabilizes blood pressure;
- Promotes the elimination of "bad" cholesterol;
- Cleans the body of toxic substances.
Goose onions have long been taken inside in the form of a decoction, for the preparation of which they take a tablespoon of chopped fresh onions, pour 100 ml of boiling water and, stirring constantly, cook over low heat for five minutes. After that, the broth is allowed to brew for two hours, strained and put into the refrigerator. It is recommended to use it in a tablespoon three or four times a day. It should be remembered that such a drug can be stored for no more than 36 hours.
To prepare an antiepileptic broth, boil three goose bulbs in 100 ml of medium fat milk. The resulting product is cooled, strained and taken three times a day, two to three teaspoons. The duration of the course of treatment is two weeks, then they take a break for a month or two and repeat the treatment.
However, yellow goose onions are not only used as medicinal plantbut also as a component of a large number of recipes and as a cosmetic.
In cooking, both bulbs and gooseberry leaves are used. The leaves, which have a pronounced garlic taste and aroma, are added to spring salads, and the bulbs are baked in the oven or boiled. In ancient times, when there was a grain harvest failure, the bulbs of the goose were ground and added to the bread dough.
In cosmetology, it is also customary to use plant bulbs. Moreover, this tool in combination with other components is suitable for both oily skinand for normal, dry, fading, as well as for skin prone to acne, freckles and various types of rashes.
For women with porous, excessively contaminated skin, it is recommended to rub the bulbs (1-2 pieces) on a fine grater, add a small amount of honey to the resulting mass and apply it on the face, avoiding eye contact. Wash off the mask after 10 minutes.
As a remedy for acne, one dessert spoon of chopped goose onions is mixed with one egg white, applied to the face for 10 minutes, and then washed off with warm water.
Crushed raw materials mixed with honey help to strengthen and grow hair, squeezed juice removes freckles if they are regularly wiped, and baked and softened bulbs placed on the skin oiled with olive oil slow down the aging process.
The goose onion is a bulbous herbaceous honey plantbelonging to the lily family. Appearance its rather modest, but the plant looks great in a rocky garden and feels great in flower arrangements... It is also often used as a curb. In nature, there are more than a hundred of its species, and most often the plant is found in Eurasia and North Africa. The goose onion blooms in early spring, which is why it is popularly called the yellow snowdrop.
The flower of a goose onion reaches a height of 35 cm. Its inflorescences are umbrella-shaped, and the flowers themselves are small yellow stars. The leaves of the goose onion plant are narrow and long, much longer than the inflorescence itself. Goose onions propagate with the help of children that are formed from the main bulb. In summer, the fruits of goose onions ripen in the form of triangular capsules with seeds. After the end of flowering, the aerial part of the plant dies off.
The most common types are considered to be yellow, bulbous, small, reddish goose onions. In decorative gardening, yellow goose is most often used. The plant is hardy enough, loves sunny places, fertile, loose soil that does not retain water.
Goose onion yellow
Yellow goose onions grow in forests, oak forests, groves and dense bushes. Has a small ovoid bulb up to 10 mm in diameter, covered with brown-gray scales. Its stem grows up to 30 cm. broad leaves longer than inflorescences. Under the inflorescence, it usually has two leaves: one growing above the inflorescence, and the second, smaller, shorter than the inflorescence. The inflorescence itself consists of 8-10 flowers of a pale yellow color, and outside they are generally greenish. The yellow goose onion blooms in March-April.
In summer, the plant begins a dormant period. And by the beginning of autumn, the shoot of the next year is fully formed in the goose onion. The tops of its leaves begin to resemble a hard tip, helping the plant to make its way through frozen soil, snow or ice crust in early spring.
The growing season for yellow goose onions lasts only 2-3 weeks. Its yellow flowers open at 10 am and close at 5 pm. In cloudy or rainy weather, they do not open at all.
In the description of the yellow goose onion, you can find interesting periods of its breeding. During the first period, even before flowering, there is an increased reproduction and formation of children, which appear at the base of the mother bulb. These formed small onions do not germinate the next, but only in the third year. In the spring, in the fourth and fifth years, the bulbs continue to grow, and only in the spring of the sixth year does the plant bloom and the second period of the goose's life begins. Daughter bulbs can no longer form, and reproduction continues only with the help of seeds. Such bulbs, grown from seeds, are located for several years on the very surface of the soil and are easily washed away by rain or flood waters. 
and are carried over long distances. And babies are formed at the same depth as the mother's bulbs, that is, deeper and cannot be washed out by rains, but slowly settle over short distances. These two methods of reproduction of yellow goose onions contribute to the wide dispersal of this species in the wild.
Seeds of yellow goose onions are sown before winter. If you want to grow a plant from children, then it is best to scatter the bulbs in the area where it is already growing lawn grass and slightly bury the bulbs in the ground. With this planting, you will get a beautiful natural carpet from a starry scattering of yellow flowers of decorative goose onions on a green field of grass.
