Cypress is a coniferous plant that belongs to the Cypress family. It grows wild in countries with a temperate climate: in North America, the Mediterranean, on the islands of Cyprus and Crete, in southern China. Cultivated for ornamental purposes, as well as for wind protection.
plant description
This evergreen tree or shrub most often has a pyramidal crown. Depending on the species, it can grow up to 25 and even up to 40 m in height. The root grows up to 20-30 m in length. The bark of the tree usually has a grayish-red hue. Leaves cover the branches on all sides. The needles are arranged in 2 pieces, usually 5-6 cm long. The cones of the plant are spherical, slightly flattened. Seeds are flat, with scales, they fully ripen in the second year.
Cypress has medicinal properties, as its cones, needles and shoots contain such substances:
- terpene alcohols;
- proanthocyanidol;
- pinene;
- camphene;
- terpineol;
- tannin;
- cymol;
- sabinol;
- flavonol;
- phytoncides;
- terpene;
- essential oil.
The composition of different species may differ from each other.
Useful properties of cypress
Cypress has a lot of useful properties. It has a number of effects on the human body:
- deodorizing;
- antiseptic;
- astringent;
- soothing;
- hemostatic;
- vasoconstrictor;
- antiviral;
- regulates female sex hormones.
Application in traditional medicine
It is known that in ancient Egypt, sarcophagi were made from cypress wood, because it is light and saturated with resins. And the essential oil was part of the mixture for embalming mummies. It was also widely used in shipbuilding and for the construction of houses.
Phytotherapeutists use cones, shoots and needles to prepare medicinal products in the treatment of the following diseases:
- wounds;
- bronchitis;
- cold;
- urinary incontinence;
- swelling;
- liver disease;
- hemorrhages;
- spasms in the digestive tract;
- hematomas;
- bleeding gums;
- increased body temperature;
- haemorrhoids;
- phlebeurysm;
- obesity;
- colic;
- migraine;
- increased sweating.
Here are some recipes of folk healers.
Tincture
This drug is used for uterine bleeding. It is made from cypress cones collected in green form, it is during this period that they have healing properties. Pour 20 g of raw materials with alcohol (250 ml), leave to infuse for 2 weeks. Then you can drain. Drink 10-12 drops twice a day on an empty stomach. With abundant menstrual flow, you can take a decoction of.
infusions
- This medicine is useful to wipe the skin with various injuries. Pour 30 g of leaves with boiling water (300 ml), leave for 1 hour and drain. Can be used as a compress on the affected areas. A good wound-healing property also has a decoction of.
- This infusion should be drunk with varicose veins, as well as with a feeling of heaviness in the legs. Pour 10 g of cones with boiling water (250 ml), leave for an hour and filter. Drink at one time. This medicine must be taken three times a day.
Essential oil
From the twigs and fruits of cypress, an essential oil is obtained, which has many useful properties and has found wide application in various fields. It is used:
- With nervous tension, it is good to take a bath with this remedy.. Also, this method is recommended for those who suffer from insomnia or are emotionally unbalanced. To do this, mix 3-5 drops with 60 g of an emulsifier (honey, salt, soda, foam, etc.) and add to a filled bath. Essential oil can also be used for baths, which also soothes and relaxes.
- For asthma and severe cough it is necessary to apply 1-2 drops on a handkerchief or towel and inhale several times a day.
- Mix 5-6 drops with any vegetable oil for massage. Such a massage tightens the skin, makes it elastic, eliminates cellulite, promotes weight loss.
- For rinsing the mouth make a special mix. 5 drops are mixed with 10 ml of alcohol. 3 drops of this mixture are dissolved in 200 ml of water. Used for bleeding gums and other diseases.
- To keep your hair nice and shiny, it is necessary to apply after washing the following mixture of oils: 5 drops of cypress, 5 - tea tree and 10 ml of jojoba. Leave on hair for 10 minutes, then rinse well with water.
- For the treatment of hemorrhoids make special microclysters: 2-3 drops are mixed with 30 ml of the base base (wheat germ or jojoba).
- It is recommended to use for inhalation and room aromatization. To do this, apply 1-2 drops to the locket and wear it during flu epidemics. Or add 2-3 drops to the aroma lamp bowl along with water. In this way, you can get rid of insects in the room.
- To relieve colic in the liver, stomach or kidneys, it is necessary to apply warm compresses to these places: 5 drops per glass of water.
Contraindications
Cypress has a lot of medicinal properties and is widely used to treat various diseases. However, it is not recommended to use plant-based preparations:
- during pregnancy;
- with individual intolerance;
- when breastfeeding;
- suffering from cancer;
- after a heart attack;
- with thrombophlebitis;
- children under 12;
- with mastopathy.
Procurement of raw materials from cypress
Cones, needles and shoots are harvested in an unripe form for the manufacture of medicines. The raw material is used for the preparation of tinctures, infusions, decoctions, and oil is also made from it by distillation.
Have you used cypress for treatment? What can you say about it? Share your reviews, recommendations, proven recipes.
In Chinese medicine, the fruits were used to stimulate the liver. In the Middle Ages, during epidemics, fragrant branches of cypress, juniper and lavender were burned at crossroads.
The Egyptians, having appreciated the strength of cypress wood, made sarcophagi from it.
"Nuts" are waiting for two years
Evergreen cypress is a tall (up to 30 m) coniferous plant from the cypress family, with a pyramidal or outstretched crown. The leaves are scaly, cross-paired, dark or light green, sometimes with a bluish tint (acicular on young specimens).
Female cones ("cypress nuts") are large, up to 3 cm, almost spherical or ovoid, flattened at the base; gray or grayish-brown, shiny, woody, mature in the second year of life, each "nut" consists of 4-6 pairs of corymbose scales with a spine. Homeland cypress - the northern part of the Mediterranean.
Useful properties of cypress
Volatile phytoncides of cypress disinfect the air from pathogens (by 40-50%), have a particularly healing effect when chronic diseases lungs.
Cypress aromatherapy, used in seaside health resorts, is well complemented by aesthetic therapy (contemplation of a slender silhouette in green tones has a beneficial effect on the nervous system).
You can make cypress part of the interior of your apartment or office, and this will not cause much trouble - the plant is unpretentious in culture. Very easy to propagate by seeds, as well as green cuttings (preferably in spring).
Our advice:
Just don't forget to collect ripe buds! They can be used for baths with sweating legs, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, gout, stomatitis, gingivitis. To do this, prepare a tincture of fruits (1:5 in 40% alcohol), take 20-25 drops orally 3 times a day. 1 hour a spoonful of tincture in 1 glass of water is used for rinsing.
Amber scented oil
Essential oil is obtained by distillation of fruits (cypress nuts) with water vapor, as well as hydrodistillation of leaves and twigs. To obtain 1 kg of essential oil, you need up to 100 kg of raw materials.
Essential oil is currently produced mainly in Italy, Greece and France.
Cypress essential oil is a clear, slightly yellowish liquid with a pleasant, resinous warm smell reminiscent of ambergris.
Cypress oil has long been considered very valuable, and in Tibet is still used as a cleanser. It has been used for diarrhea, heavy menstruation and excessive sweating.
The main properties of cypress oil:
- astringent;
- vasoconstrictor and vein tonic (better than witch hazel);
- antispasmodic;
- reducing sweating;
- antirheumatic;
- diuretic;
- restoring general balance (especially the nervous system);
- regulating female hormonal status.
It can be applied in different ways.
Be careful! The use of tincture and cypress essential oil is contraindicated in pregnancy, epilepsy, hypertension, increased blood clotting, thrombophlebitis, post-infarction conditions.
scented practice
Essential oil in baths (3-5 drops of oil, previously mixed with 1/3 cup of milk, whey or salt solution) and in an aroma lamp (4-6 drops) provides clarity of thought, balances the emotional background.
The oil helps with absent-mindedness, lack of concentration, nervous breakdowns, uncontrollable crying, waste of energy, prevents premature ejaculation.
Inhalation of cypress aroma stops coughing attacks with whooping cough and bronchial asthma.
This oil has an astringent, antiseptic, deodorizing effect on the skin and hair. It is recommended for oily skin, acne, oily hair, dandruff, hair loss.
They are enriched with creams, tonics, shampoos, shower gels (2-3 drops per 5 ml of base).
Hot and cold inhalations with 1-2 drops of cypress oil for 4-7 minutes help to remove sputum and reduce the inflammatory process in upper respiratory tract catarrh.
General baths and foot baths with cypress oil eliminate excessive sweating.
Aroma massage (general and specific areas), as well as reflex massage with cypress oil (3-5 drops per 10 ml of basic vegetable oil) allow you to normalize the hormonal status of a woman, especially in menopause, improve the condition of cellulite, help normalize blood pressure, strengthen the walls of blood vessels. vessels.
Our advice:
For the treatment of hemorrhoids, take 3-5 drops of cypress oil, mix with 10 ml of basic vegetable oil and lubricate the affected areas 2 times a day. The same oil solution can be used for massage.
Massage, as well as warm compresses with oil (5 drops per 1 glass of warm water) on the projection of certain organs, can quickly and effectively relieve renal, hepatic and gastric colic.
Oil is used both if you want to lose weight, and for the so-called silhouette massage for the purpose of muscular body shaping.
A mixture of cypress oil with vegetable oil is a good remedy for fleas and to eliminate the smell of a dog.
Cypress oil goes well in aroma compositions with juniper, lavender, pine and santal essential oils.
Liubov DUDCHENKO, Candidate of Biological Sciences
© Magazine "Ogorodnik"
Photo: depositphotos.com
Cypress is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees, less often shrubs with a spreading or pyramidal crown, 18-25 m high. The plant has fern-like scaly blue-green leaves and rounded fruit-cones. The beneficial properties of cypress have been known since ancient times. Herbal preparations of cypress (infusions, tinctures, decoctions, etc.) have antiseptic, astringent, vasoconstrictive, sedative and other therapeutic effects that have found application in traditional medicine in many countries.
Ask the experts
In medicine
Plants of the genus cypress are not pharmacopoeial and are not used in official medicine. However, essential oil of cypress, infusions and tinctures from cones, a decoction of cones, an extract of pine needles and cypress shoots, an aqueous extract from cones are successfully used in folk medicine, as well as medicines in China and Tibet.
Contraindications and side effects
Cypress also has contraindications for use. It is forbidden to use cypress preparations for pregnant and lactating women, children under 12 years old, people with cancer, in a state after a heart attack, with increased blood clotting, thrombophlebitis, and mastopathy. Also, cypress can not be used for individual intolerance and an allergic reaction.
In cosmetology
In cosmetology, cypress essential oil is used. It soothes sensitive and irritated skin. The oil deeply moisturizes the epidermis and maintains fluid balance in the body, therefore it is excellent for caring for mature and tired skin, tones, helps smooth wrinkles, and increases skin turgor. Cypress oil has bactericidal, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory properties, therefore it is recommended for use by owners of oily and problem skin. The oil helps in the fight against acne, rashes, blackheads. Cypress essential oil tightens pores, regulates the activity of the sebaceous glands, reduces sweating, has a deodorizing effect, and is used in the fight against warts.
Effective use of cypress oil for hair. It stimulates hair growth, prevents the formation of dandruff, effectively moisturizes the scalp, and normalizes sebum secretion.
Due to its deep hydration and effect on cellular metabolism, cypress essential oil has been successfully used to combat cellulite. Also, the oil is used for sweating, it has deodorizing and astringent properties.
In horticulture
In landscape design, the cypress tree is used for outdoor and indoor gardening. This plant looks spectacular both in groups of trees and planted singly. Cypress adorns parks and gardens. The tree is also used as wind protection.
Many varieties of cypress are actively used as bonsai. Cypress in a pot can be kept at home during the autumn-winter period, and decorate the garden with it in spring and summer. When growing this plant at home, you should be aware that the cypress root is very tender and does not tolerate damage. Transplantation should be done only by transshipment.
In aromatherapy
Cypress essential oil has a calming effect, helps to normalize the mental state of a person, relieve nervous tension. The aroma of cypress helps in the fight against insomnia, improves mood. The condition of women during menopause, which is accompanied by headaches, irritability, hot flashes, improves significantly with the use of cypress oil.
Classification
Cypress (Cupressus L.) is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs of the Cypress family (Cupressaceae L.). In the modern classification, from 12 to 25 species are distinguished, about 10 species are used in ornamental gardening. Some of the most famous species are: Evergreen Cypress - Cupressus sempervirens L., Arizona Cypress - Cupressus arizonica, Lusitanian Cypress, or Mexican Cypress - Cupressus lusitanica Mill, Large-fruited Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa), Kashmir Cypress (Cupressus caschmeriana Royle).
Botanical description
Cypress is a slender evergreen tree with a pyramidal crown, reaching a height of 18-25 m. Cypress shoots are thin, soft, sagging down. The leaves of this plant are fern-like, scaly, covering the branches on all sides, have a rhomboid-elongated shape about 2 mm long, blue-green in color. Cypress fruits are cones, rounded, with numerous thyroid scales, ripen in the second year. In addition, cypress, unlike other conifers, adapts well to room conditions.
Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica) - a tree up to 15 m or more high. It grows quickly, photophilous, drought-resistant. It has a gray bark of young shoots and thinly pointed pale or gray-green leaves. The dark brown bark of old shoots peels off in long narrow fibers. Cones up to 2.5 cm in diameter.
Evergreen cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) is a tree up to 30 m tall, with a pyramidal crown and short ascending branches tightly pressed against the trunk. It tolerates prolonged drought and short-term temperature drops down to -20°C. Durable. Begins to bear fruit at 5-6 years of age.
Lusitanian cypress, or Mexican cypress (Cupressus lusitanica Mill) is a tree 30-40 m high, with a broad pyramidal crown, with hanging ends of the branches. The bark of the trunk is reddish-brown, the shoots are tetrahedral, elongated, located in different planes.
Large-fruited cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) is the species most adapted to indoor cultivation. The plant is a tree with a pyramidal crown. The trunk is erect, with many outgoing horizontal branches, covered with small scaly leaves. The leaves are light or dark green, the diameter of the cones is up to 3.8 cm. The plant has a yellow-green crown and dark lower branches.
Spreading
Since there are many types of cypress, the homeland of each of them is different. For the most part, these are countries with a temperate climate in the Northern Hemisphere - the Mediterranean, North America, southern China, but the Kashmir cypress comes from India. Evergreen cypress in the wild is common in the mountains of Asia Minor, Iran and on the island of Cyprus, on the Greek islands of Crete and Rhodes. In culture since 1778. The homeland of the Arizona cypress is the southwestern United States, Mexico. In its natural environment, it grows in the Crimea and Transcarpathia. Mexican cypress or Lusitanian cypress is native to the southern United States and Mexico.
Distribution regions on the map of Russia.
Procurement of raw materials
For medicinal purposes, cones, needles and shoots of cypress are used. They are harvested still green and used in the form of infusions or decoctions. Ripe cones are also used. Cypress essential oil is obtained by steam distillation from the leaves and shoots of the plant.
Chemical composition
The chemical composition of the oil depends on the variety of cypress, cutting time and distillation conditions. Cypress needles, shoots and cones contain terpene alcohols, aromatic hydrocarbons - camphene, terpene, terpineol, sabinol, cymene, pinene.
Pharmacological properties
The benefits of cypress are due to its unique chemical composition. Cypress preparations (essential oil, extract, infusions, tinctures, decoctions) have a deodorizing, astringent, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, hemostatic, vasoconstrictive, calming effect; improve memory, eliminate absent-mindedness and headaches; normalize hormonal balance, especially in women; eliminate gum bleeding, petechial hemorrhages and vascular networks (asterisks); prevent nervous breakdowns; relieve colic - hepatic, renal, intestinal, gastric; help fight excess weight and cellulite; used in the treatment of acute respiratory infections, influenza, asthma, whooping cough and other diseases.
The beneficial properties of cypress oil determine its activity in the treatment of wounds, cuts and bruises.
Application in traditional medicine
Since ancient times, cypress resins have been used to treat wounds and ulcers; under their action, many pathogens died; they were prescribed for coughs, bronchitis and colds; they removed hiccups, spasms of the stomach and intestines. essential oil, in large quantities contained in the resins of cypress, well stops bleeding and resolves hematomas; used in massage mixtures to strengthen the walls of blood vessels. The use of cypress allows you to get rid of edema, urinary incontinence and hemorrhages. Due to the ability to constrict blood vessels, cypress treatment is effective for varicose veins and hemorrhoids. Cypress oil tones the circulatory system and lowers the temperature during inflammatory processes in the body. Cypress has a beneficial effect on the liver and helps maintain optimal blood composition. Inhalations with cypress oil are used for flu and colds. Cypress essential oil also helps to eliminate bleeding gums. The use of cypress oil is recommended for inflammatory diseases female reproductive system. Baths with cypress oil can be taken with metabolic disorders, obesity, bronchitis, renal colic, migraine, excessive sweating. Cypress essential oil is a natural repellant.
History reference
Cypress and its valuable properties have been known since ancient times. Cypress oil was used to treat parchments and papyri, to impregnate dressings when embalming the dead, knowing about the bactericidal properties of cypress. The island of Cyprus is named after the cypress plant, this tree was considered sacred. There is a legend about a young man, Kouparissos, who was turned into a cypress tree. From this tree was made the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. In ancient Greece and Rome, cypress was planted in cemeteries. Cypress wood was highly valued for its durability and rot resistance. Ships, sarcophagi were made from it, used in the construction of houses.
Literature
1. Cypress, plants from the cypress family // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
2. Denisova G. A., Pilipenko F. S. Cypress family (Cupressaceae) // Plant life. In 6 volumes / Ch. ed. Al. A. Fedorov. - M.: Enlightenment, 1978. - T. 4. Mosses. Club mosses. Horsetails. ferns. Gymnosperms. Ed. I. V. Grushvitsky and S. G. Zhilin. - S. 383-398. - 447 p. - 300,000 copies.
3. Novitskaya G. Cypress and cypress. // Floriculture, 2007, No. 4, p. 36-39.
4. Yu. Shkolnik, Plants. Complete encyclopedia. M.: Litres, 2013. - p. 31.
Its taste is slightly sharp, acrid and very bitter; its astringency is stronger than its bitterness. The sharpness of the cypress is enough to direct it deep into the organs, and bring to them the ability to bind without burning. Cypress differs from other warming agents in that it does not draw juices.
Nature.
Hot in the first degree, dry in the second degree. Some say that the cypress is very cold, and conclude that its strength is complex and that its hotness is only so great as to direct its astringent property deep into the organs.
Actions and properties.
Cypress leaves and cones are tied. It has a resolving power that absorbs liquids. Its buds are in every way stronger than its leaves. It glues, stops bleeding and even eliminates putrefaction.
Cosmetics.
If cypress is boiled in vinegar with lupine and anointed with it on the nails, it will remove stains from them, and cypress leaves destroy the bahak and blacken the hair.
Wounds and ulcers.
Fresh, soft, freshly picked leaves, cones and twigs of cypress heal wounds in hard organs. Tumors and pimples.
Cypress, especially mixed with barley flour, helps with herpes and carbuncle.
Articulated tools.
Fresh cypress leaves and buds, if made into a medicinal bandage, are good for hernia. When applied as a medicinal bandage, it strengthens the nerves and tightens the hernia, strengthens the relaxed muscles and makes them firmer.
head organs.
If cypress cones with figs are finely crushed and made into a wick in the nose, this gets rid of wild meat, and a decoction [cones] in vinegar stops toothache.
Respiratory system.
Cypress cones are given to drink in wine with hemoptysis, shortness of breath, "standing breath" and an old cough. Their decoction works the same way.
Eruption organs.
cypress evergreen
Evergreen Cypress|Cupressus semprevirens|Cypress
Evergreen cypress is a typical representative of a plant growing in the southern strip of the planet. It is grown mainly for wind protection and as an ornamental plant. The tree has a grayish-reddish bark, small triangular opposite leaves that are tightly pressed to the branches. Seed-bearing cones have rounded dense scales that turn yellowish-gray when ripe.
The cypress has spherical cones, slightly flattened at the base. Cypress, like grapes and pine, contains proanthocyanidols, effective in venous insufficiency. The active substances are tannins, derivatives of catechol.
The molecules of these substances are combined both in two (dimers), and much more - oligos and polymers. By and large, only polymers are tannins. However, flavonol oligomers and dimers are of interest for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
Used parts and active substances of cypress evergreen
● Cypress cones are usually harvested while still green for the preparation of extracts, powders and infusions. In the pharmaceutical industry, tablets, gelatin capsules and drinking solutions are prepared from them. as a medicinal and cosmetic product cypress is used for the manufacture of ointments and gels for external use.
● Cones contain oligomeric and dimeric proanthocyanidols and flavonols, which effectively affect the tone of venous vessels, thereby improving peripheral blood circulation. Cypress also contains a small amount of diaterpenic acids and essential oil.
Medicinal properties and indications for the use of evergreen cypress
● In vitro experiments on animals and humans have shown that flavonol compounds actively act as enzyme inhibitors. That is why, thanks to these properties, cypress is an excellent angioprotector in the treatment of weakened veins.
● As mentioned above, active substances affect the walls of blood vessels, so cypress cones are recommended for use with, heaviness in the legs and. For greater efficiency, evergreen cypress is used in combination with or.
● To date, there have been no reports of the toxic effects of evergreen cypress preparations on the human body, even with prolonged use.
Traditional medicine recommends evergreen cypress for heavy legs, hemorrhoids and varicose veins
● Drink 4-5 cups of infusion daily between meals and before meals (one standard sachet per cup of boiling water)
● 1 gelatin capsule in the morning, afternoon and evening.
● Three tablets of cypress per day with meals.
● 40-60 drops of drinking solution with a small amount of water three times a day before meals.
● In the evening before going to bed, it is easy to rub the gel or ointment of evergreen cypress into the places of vein expansion from the bottom up until completely absorbed.
If symptoms persist, you should consult your doctor.
For more information about evergreen cypress, you can read by clicking on the link - Wikipedia.
