Honey herb ivan tea crossword clue 6 letters Ivan - narrow-leaved tea - honey plant

If there is a fire in the forest, then one of the first plants on the ashes, of course, will be Ivan tea. Perhaps this is because its seeds are light enough, and therefore are carried by the wind over great distances. It grows well on ash, inhabiting wastelands. In good light conditions, the first flowers will appear in two or three years. Very often in wastelands, meadows or forest clearings, you can find these bright pink flowers.

Very often Ivan tea is confused with its relative fireweed. However, you should not do this, fireweed blooms in a completely different way, although outwardly it is very similar to Ivan-tea. The leaves of Ivan-tea are also different, in fireweed they are sharper, with small teeth at the edges. The flowers of these two plants are also excellent. In fireweed, they are much smaller, and not as bright as in Ivan-tea, sometimes you can even find almost white flowers of fireweed.

In the Amur basin, Ivan-tea is one of the best and most widespread melliferous plants. An interesting fact is that plants growing on burnt-out areas produce more nectar. Plants that grow in more northern regions also have more productivity.

According to the observations made, we can say that at an average air temperature of 26 degrees Celsius, one flower emits from 5.0 to 7.0 milligrams of sugar, this is at normal humidity. With the decrease in moisture in the air, the sugar content also fell, and then it was equal to 0.3 milligrams.

On average, one hectare can collect from 150 to 550 kilograms of honey. The highest rates of honey collection are observed in Oluchensky, Nanaisky, and Komsomolsky districts. Along the valleys of rivers such as Anyui, Amgun and Guru.

If favorable weather conditions were given, then the strongest hive could replenish three to six kilograms per day.

If we consider the southern and central parts of Primorye, then here Ivan-tea is not an important honey plant, since the release of nectar is very low, and its growing areas are also not large, therefore it is not of any interest to bees. On the island of Sakhalin, the Kamchatka Territory, in the Magadan Region and the northern regions, it grows in abundance, forming whole fields, as a rule, it secretes nectar very abundantly.

From the south of the Primorsky Territory, bees are brought here to bribe, in order to get honey for sale. Thanks to this simple, not time-consuming, due to the relatively short bribe, manipulations, beekeepers have the opportunity to significantly increase the productivity of their apiaries.

Examples of the same movements of apiaries are their export from Primorsky Krai to the north of the Amur region, where raspberries bloom profusely. Therefore, by the time the linden blooms, apiaries already have in their combs from 30 to 60 kilograms of honey in each bee colony.

Most of the population of the Far East knows Ivan-tea. Let's give it a short description. Ivan tea is a perennial plant with a strong branched root. It reaches a height of 0.8 to 1.8 meters. It has large leaves pointed towards the end. A large number of flowers are located on one inflorescence. The shade of the flowers is most often pale pink, but there are also brighter color combinations. The flowering period of Ivan-tea begins somewhere in the middle of July and ends in early September.

But not only honey collected from Ivan-tea is useful. An interesting fact is that the vitamin C content in its leaves is three times higher than that in citrus fruits. Ivan tea contains a huge amount of trace elements, which is comparable to their content in vegetables. Its leaves contain iron, molybdenum, boron, nickel and copper. All these are elements that stimulate hematopoiesis, as well as enhance the natural immune properties of the body.

In the root system of the plant there are large reserves of starch, therefore, in terms of their nutritional value and energy value, they can even act as substitutes for potato tubers. Fresh roots with young spring offspring taste very similar to cauliflower and asparagus.

In order to remove the astringent substances from the rhizomes of Ivan tea, it is necessary to collect them after the autumn wilting of the ground part, then cut into small pieces and wash thoroughly. After these procedures, the rhizomes are dried and ground in a mortar or coffee grinder.

The resulting powder is very useful to add to the flour in the baking dough, it can increase their sweet taste.

Drinks made from flowers and leaves of the plant also have pleasant taste. Young leaves and shoots can be added as herbs to salads and soups.

Koporsky tea, famous in Russia, was obtained from the leaves of Ivan tea. This tea in very large quantities was sent for sale to other countries, so it was so popular. Koporsky tea is in no way inferior in its usefulness and taste to the famous Georgian tea.

In Tibet, Ivan tea is used in medicine, mainly as a sleeping pill and antipyretic medicine. Also, Ivan tea leaves have an excellent wound healing effect. Very often, doctors who adhere to traditional methods of treatment prescribe various fees, which include Ivan tea. Such diseases are gastritis, stomach ulcers, colitis, as well as other diseases where its anti-inflammatory effect is required.

Referring to all these data, we can conclude that the cultivation of this plant in the gardens of rural residents, as well as summer cottages, would be of great benefit. With the help of Ivan-tea, it is possible to realize real savings. Just think, it can replace many of the early vegetables that people buy in supermarkets at inflated prices, and even without a guarantee of product quality. It can be used as a good honey plant, as well as a valuable medicine. But, perhaps, the main advantage for a city dweller, so striving for the natural environment and beauty after the noise of the city, is the aesthetic appeal of the plant. If you plant Ivan-tea on a garden plot, then it will delight the eye with its bright pink flowers throughout almost the entire summer, due to which the summer cottage will immediately be transformed and filled with colors.

Ivan tea honey, obtained by bees from the nectar of this plant, is transparent, with a slight yellow tint. It has a delicate delicate aroma, after the formation of crystals, it becomes white. The consistency resembles snow grains, and sometimes even sour cream or bacon. Good for providing bees with food in winter.

Ivan tea propagates by shoots, seeds and rhizomes, so that it can be easily transferred from the forest edge to the backyard.

Based on materials from the journal Pchelovodstvo.

Herbaceous and shrub forest plants - honey plants

Ivan - narrow-leaved tea - Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub.


Perennial herb of the fireweed family (Onagraceae) 60-120 cm high with erect cylindrical low-branched stems. Leaves are alternate sessile, lanceolate, pointed, dark green, bluish-green below, purple-pink flowers, collected in a long terminal raceme. Corolla with four petals. Calyx is deep, four-part, eight stamens, pistil with four-part stigma and lower ovary. The fruit is a long tetrahedral pod-shaped capsule. Seeds are numerous, with a fluffy white tuft. Quite widespread throughout the Non-Black Earth Zone. It grows in forest clearings, burnt-out areas, peat bogs, along railways and highways, along the edges of reclamation canals. Often forms continuous thickets. In many places it is one of the main melliferous plants. In terms of distribution and honey productivity, it has no equal.

Blooms from June to August. Bees very actively visit this flowering plant. Honey productivity ivan-chai high and, depending on weather conditions, is 120-600 kg per hectare.


Fireweed honey in liquid form it is watery-transparent, with a greenish tint, in crystallized state it is almost white. A fine-grained, fat-like mass quickly crystallizes. The aroma is very delicate, but weakly expressed, the taste is pleasant. It has long been used as a sedative, anti-inflammatory and enveloping agent for gastritis with high acidity, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer. They are successfully treated for throat ailments, constipation, chronic diseases of internal organs. In Tibetan medicine, it is used for diseases of the mucous membranes and skin. This honey stimulates hematopoiesis and increases the protective properties of the body, and dissolved in warm water has a beneficial effect on insomnia and headaches, normalizes intestinal activity, and is useful for nursing mothers.

Pollen grains Ivan Chai three-pore, spherical. Diameter 4.8-8.4 microns. In outline from the pole, round-triangular, with pronounced pores, from the equator, round. The pores are round, intra-rim, 17–20 µm in diameter; the pore membrane is lumpy. The width of the mesoporium is 61.2-68.8 microns. The exine in the center of the mesoporium has a thickness of 1.6-1.8 microns, around the pores it is thickened to 7 microns. The sculpture is thin, smoothed and lumpy. Pollen color is yellow-green.

Blooming Sally is a medicinal plant. Ivan-tea has long been known in Russia as “Koporsky tea”. Tea was made from its leaves, which was in demand far beyond the boundaries of the Petersburg province. Narrow-leaved fireweed has an astringent, hemostatic, mild laxative, emollient, wound-healing effect and a weak soporific effect. Water infusion of the herb is taken internally for headaches and insomnia and as a uterine remedy. The crushed leaves are applied to the wounds.

Blooming Sally or Fireweed

Ivan tea or fireweed is a perennial herb with a height of 50 cm -150 cm, with long, narrow leaves and beautiful crimson, purple-red flowers, which are arranged in elongated brushes. It grows throughout the northern hemisphere. On the territory of Russia, it is distributed in the European part and Siberia. It grows well in clearings and after fires for 3 years, then other plants replace it. Easily adapts to different types of soil. Wet ground and cold weather are fine.

On marshy areas, fireweed gives less nectar, and loves clay soil rich in humus more, as well as on sandy-stony ground. Flowering lasts from late June to September (before the arrival of frost).
The nectar is secreted by the green fleshy top of the ovary, where rain does not fall and there is free access for insects. Honey bees, bumblebees, flies, butterflies and other insects are pleased to visit the flowers of Ivan-tea, which has a wonderful greenish pollen, whose grains are tied together by sticky threads. Flowers are odorless.
Warm days and cold nights produce a lot of nectar. Fireweed gives bees a longer honey flow than clover. For most of the summer (July and August), the flowers release nectar, even in a cold northerly wind, when all nectar from linden and clover ceases. But it is not always possible to rely on bribes from fireweed: abundant rains in the spring and dry summers can badly affect the plant. Unfortunately, the best places to get honey from fireweed are hard to find.
Fireweed honey is the lightest and sweetest, transparent greenish in color, with a mild aroma, delicate spicy taste.

Ivan tea, like a honey plant, can occupy the first place among herbaceous plants in the forest and in the fields.
Fireweed propagates in two ways: by the seeds of the fruit and by means of the root system.
The fruit (capsule) contains a large number of hairy seeds. When the capsule opens, then, thanks to the hairs, the seeds fly like a parachute over long distances.
The fireweed root can be up to 6 meters in length. If the plant grows in the shade, then it quickly withers and falls off. Then it releases a large long root to come out of the shadow. The brighter the light, the brighter the color of Ivan-tea. After a fire, fireweed can grow densely not from seeds, but from rhizomes.
So here they are "Parachutes of Happiness", which we caught in childhood! It turns out these are fireweed seeds!
Fireweed is the most valuable honey plant! Every beekeeper experiences real joy working in an apiary where Ivan tea grows nearby!
Fireweed is very common in alternative medicine! Great teas, various infusions and decoctions are made from it, which contribute to the treatment of viruses and diseases.