Spotted basket – Orchis maculata

Description of spotted basket:

Orchis maculata L. (Old or other familiar names: mountain burnet, drift-grass, palm-rooted marigold) Cattails – Orchidaceae Leaves elongated or lanceolate, with regular red spots on the back of the bracts. Spikes loose, flowers purple, very rarely white.

Occurrence:

In grasslands and woodlands, mainly in temperate parts of Europe, North Africa and Asia. In our country, in sparse forests, clearings, mown fields.

Part to be collected:

The youngest white or whitish-brownish girl-tuber, with a bud on top, which is marketed tubera salep which is sold to the trade as.

Active substances:

Honey, protein and sugar.

Harvesting and drying:

The tubers can be collected from the second year onwards. After flowering, the tubers should be cleaned and, once cleaned, poured over hot water and dried at a low temperature, which makes the tubers, which were previously moist, hard and charcoal-like.

Cultivation:

The grapes are propagated by grafting. It requires moist soil in which the tubers are buried to a depth of 10-15 cm. The first planting of the basket is a little difficult. In order for the plant to develop, the soil needs certain bacteria which feed on the roots of the basket. Therefore, in the area to be set up for production, it is necessary to bury old pieces of root in advance to allow the fungi to develop. Two years are required for the development of the basket.

Processing and marketing:

It is used in medicine as a powder, – in the form of a decoction, – in addition, it is used as a nutrient. Source: Dr. Ferenc Darvas and Dr. Gyula Magyary-Kossa,Domestic herbs, their production, marketing, effects and medicinal uses Béla Páter, Wild medicinal plants, their production, use, distribution, and marketing