Page 26 - Book of Abstracts

5 International Scientific Online Conference DOI: https://doi.org/10.15414/2021.9788055224015

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SOME FORGOTTEN, LITTLE-KNOWN, AND LESS USED PLANT SPECIES
Anastasiia Bilko, Leonora Adamchuk

National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine;
E-mail.: bilkoanastasia@gmail.com

The flora of our planet is very diverse and unique. Plants have been studied, described,
and recorded as species gradually. Subsequently, mankind has learned to use plants for
medicinal, traditions, and nutritional purposes. Thus, plants have assumed an important role in
human life. With the development of technology and the chemical industry, this trend has lost
its relevance. This has led to a reduction in the number of plants used by humans, which may
later lead to the extinction of some species, the disruption of biocoenosis, and, consequently, to
greater environmental problems. Today many plants are forgotten or little-known and that is
important for the national economy and the maintenance of human health.
The goal was to highlight the rarely used, forgotten plant species that played an important
role in the lives of people in some regions of Ukraine.
Among the rarely used plants of the Ukrainian Carpathians were the following species:
elder-flowered orchid (Dactylorhiza sambucina (L.) Soó); creeping buttercup (Ranunculus
repens L.); common nettle (Urtіca dіoіca L.); yarrow (Achillea millefolium L.); chamomile
(Matrіcarіa chamomіlla L.) and others. In books on traditional medicine from the 40–50s of the
last century, these plants were used by women in domestic life for skincare, infant bathing, and
supplementing to drinks or meals.
Among the forgotten species of plants that were previously used in Slobozhanshchyna
include rowan (Sorbus aucuparia L.); common gromwell (Lithospermum officinale L.); perforate
St John’s-wort (Hyperіcum perforatum L.); three-part beggarticks (Bіdens trіpartіta L.);
broadleaf plantain (Plantago major L.); southern globe thistle (Echinops ritro L.); coleus (Coleus
decurrens L.); cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) and others.
Most of these plants were previously used intensively for traditional medicine, food, and
domestic purposes. They treated many illnesses, including gastrointestinal inflammation,
neurosis, common cold, and gynecological disorders, and they were used as wound-healing and
bactericidal agents. With the development of the pharmaceutical, textile, and food industries,
these plants have become less popular, and their numbers have fallen sharply.
Honeysuckle and shadbush were among the little-known plants of the Forest-steppe, as
they are less and less used as fruit plants. Blue honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea L.) is a small
shrub that fruits in the form of small, oblong blueberries. The berries have many
microelements, vitamin A and C, fructose, and glucose. Also, tinctures of flowers, bark, and
leaves have such useful effects on the human organism: choleretic, diuretic, antioxidant;
antiphlogistic; antipyretic actions. Juneberry (Amelanchier lamarckii L.) is a large shrub or a
fruit tree. It is used as a medicinal, fruit, and ornamental plant. Juneberry berries contain iron,
vitamins C and E, calcium, magnesium. They can be consumed, both raw and made as jam.
By neglecting the plant species that were previously used, we lose the traditions, values,
and knowledge of our ancestors. Therefore, the flora of our planet should be explored, stored,
and restored, and the knowledge should be imparted to the descendants.
Keywords: little-known species, forgotten species, traditional medicine.

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5 International Scientific Conference Agrobiodiversity for Improving the Nutrition, Health, Quality of Life and |25
Spiritual Human Development
November 3 2021
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