Nail bush

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Nail bush
Gail Shrub (Myrica gale)

Gail Shrub ( Myrica gale )

Systematics
Rosids
Eurosiden I
Order : Beech-like (Fagales)
Family : Gelaceae family (Myricaceae)
Genre : Myrica
Type : Nail bush
Scientific name
Myrica gale
L.

The Gagelstrauch ( Myrica gale ), also called Gagel or Moor-Gagel and sebum shrub , sebum and sebum tree , is a plant species in the family of the Gagelstrauchgewächse (Myricaceae). It is widespread in North America and northwestern Europe and is the only species of the Myricaceae family in Europe.

description

Illustration: male and female plants and flowers

Appearance and leaf

The Gagelstrauch grows as a strongly branched, deciduous shrub and reaches heights of usually 0.5 to 1.5 (0.3 to 2) meters. The bark of the branches is dark brown and covered with glands.

The leaves heaped at the ends of the branches are elongated with a length of 2.5 to 5, rarely up to 6 centimeters with a wedge-shaped narrowed base. The upper side of the leaf is dark green and the lower side is lighter. As the summer progresses, leaves become leathery.

Inflorescence, flower and fruit

The flowering period extends from April to May. The Gagelstrauch is dioeciously separated sex ( diocesan ). The flowers appear before the foliage leaves. Female flowers are in short brownish and male in elongated spiked inflorescences , which are also called catkins in this case. The short style has two relatively long scar branches.

The dry stone fruits are three-pointed.

Chromosome set

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 48.

Ecology and ingredients

The Moor Gagel is a mesomorphic, helomorphic nanophanerophyte or woody Chamaephyte . Vegetative reproduction occurs through underground runners .

The nail bush is densely covered with sessile, golden-shining glands, which smell strongly aromatic and secrete essential oils . The glands secrete essential oils with α-pinene , D- and Y- cadines and limonene . The leaves have an aromatic, bitter taste.

Its lateral roots have thickened areas, because the gale bush forms a nitrogen-fixing root symbiosis with the Frankia alni ray fungus . Earlier information about the occurrence of a mycorrhiza with a fungal partner was not confirmed.

The pollination is carried by the wind ( anemophily ). In terms of flower ecology, it is the "immobile type".

The fruits are tiny single-seeded stone fruits with a wax coating and storage germ layers. They are wind and animal spreaders; Spreading by air and by swimming also occurs. They are cold and light germs. Fruit ripens in September.

The caterpillars of some polyphagous butterfly species use the Gagelstrauch as a food source, including Heide tensioner ( Ematurga atomaria ), milkweed moth ( Acronicta euphorbiae ) Gagelstrauch Moor Holzeule ( Lithophanes lambda ) Diacrisia Sannio ( Diacrisia sannio ), the winder species Acleris maccana , Acleris rufana , betulana Archips , Acleris lipsiana , Ditula angustiorana , Pammene luedersiana and Choristoneura lafauryana , the bud moth-type Argyresthia atlantic ella , the bucculatricidae-type Bucculatrix cidarella , the sheet bag moth type Caloptilia Stigmatella that gelechiidae-type Gnorimoschema bodillum and nepticulidae-type Stigmella salicis . Quite a few of these species otherwise only feed on willows or heather plants , so one could also see them as relatively oligophagous .

A species of beetle that develops as a leaf miner is the jumper species Rhynchaenus jota , which is also found on poplar , willow, alder and birch trees .

The main active ingredients in the leaves are: 0.4–0.7% essential oil , which solidifies completely at 15 ° C, with 17% α- pinene , 13% δ- and γ- cadines , limonene , β- myrcene , α- and β- phellandren , cineole , nerodiol , p- cymene , α- copaene , β- caryophyllene , α- terpineol , guaja-3,7-diene.

The branches contain 0.08% and the catkins 0.4–0.6% essential oils.

The toxicological assessment has changed in recent years. In the older literature it is stated that all parts of the plant are poisonous and that especially the leaves could cause headaches and dizziness when consumed. More recent research, however, comes to the conclusion that Gagel is recommended for use in food. One study even reports an anti- carcinogenic effect.

The pollen produced in large quantities from the nail bush can cause allergic rhinitis or conjunctivitis if inhaled . The antigen community to the pollen of alder and hazelnut is striking . Since the re- approval of the Gagelstrauch in floristry as a binding green for Easter bouquets, an increasing number of allergic reactions have also been reported there.

Popular names

There are numerous regionally specific and popular names for the Gagelstrauch, such as Bäckerbusch, Birtgenbertz, Borse, Flohkrut, Gerber-Myrthe, Grut, Mirtelbaum, Mirtelbon, Mirtelepoumahi, Mitrus, Myrtenheide , Nubpenkraut, Portz, Rausch, Talgbusch. In the north of Germany, the Gagelstrauch is also called Beerpost , Kienpost, Porst, or Post. This may be due to a derivation from the Scandinavian names (e.g. Danish “ porse ”, Estonian “ porss ”, Norwegian and Swedish “ pors ”). Many of these names are misleading, however, since the name Porst or Sumpfporst in the botanical usage of the German language denotes the plant Rhododendron tomentosum (old name Ledum palustre ).
The authors ancient herbal and medicinal books often used the names Mirtus pors , myrtle , Rhus sylvestris or Tamariscen .
In English , myrtle translates as “swamp myrtle,” or the Spanish name mirto holandés translates as “Dutch myrtle” and mirto de Brabante with reference to the Belgian province of Brabant.

Occurrence and endangerment

The nail bush is widespread in North America and northwestern Europe . In Europe, especially in the coastal (high-rainfall) areas of Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, southwest Norway and southern and central Sweden. In Germany it is restricted to areas with an Atlantic climate. Its occurrences extend as far as the Lower Rhine lowlands , the Westphalian Bight ( Münsterland , Senne ), northern Lower Saxony , western Schleswig-Holstein , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Lower Lusatia . On the East Frisian Islands , the Gagelstrauch only occurs today on Spiekeroog . It was once planted on Juist .

The Gagelstrauch grows mainly on the edges of moors and humid heaths of the Atlantic climate area. It is a character species of Myricetum gale from the association Salicion cinereae.

In Central Europe, larger stocks of gelatinous bushes are almost only found in protected wetlands. The nail bush is particularly endangered by eutrophication , drainage and shading of its locations. The Gagelstrauch is on the red list of endangered plant species.

use

The organic beer Gageleer brewed with Gagel

Use as a food

The nail bush was used for brewing beer in north-western Europe very early on . First analyzes of Danish residues reveal that here beer using Gagel flavored with juniper, lingon and cranberries as well as birch and pine resins mixed with mead from wild blossom honey as early as 1500 BC. Was drunk. From around 1100 BC Chr. Even grapes from the south z. B. the Austrian Weinviertel imported and the drink further mixed with wine. In 2012, Dogfish Head analyzed Danish residues in cooperation with biomolecular archaeologist Patrick McGovern from the Museum of Archeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in samples from Nandrup, Kostræde and Juellinge as well as Havor and Gotland and brewed this Nordic grog . In 2014 it was launched on the market under the name Kvasir based on the myth of Kvasir, which arose from divine spit.

Such in-depth studies have not yet been made in the European lowlands, but trade routes make such a brew probable throughout northern and central Europe. Based on archaeological finds in the area of ​​the Rhine estuary, it can be assumed that Gagel was also used to brew beer there at the time of Christ's birth. After the usual in the Lower Rhine name for the Gagelstrauch "Grut" Such beers are also Grutbiere called. These were widespread until the 15th century. The brewers who worked with it were called "Gruter" in the past, from which many similar family names such as Greuter, Gruyter, Grüter etc. are derived. Even today there are still or again Gagel beers.

The aromatic essential oil was and is a component of herbal liqueurs. In Denmark , especially in Jutland , where the shrub is still quite common, the branches of the Gagel shrub form the decisive component of the Gagel schnapps ( Porsesnaps ), which is popular because of its mildness . The Thisted Bryghus brewery also brews a Gagel beer called Porse Guld .

The Haarlem brewery Jopen from the Netherlands, which specializes in medieval beers, brews a Gagel beer called "Koyt gruitbier".

Dutch gruit beer

The dried leaves can be used as a spice or, alternatively, fresh leaves can be cooked in soups and stews .

Other uses

It was also used as a tanner plant and as an insect repellent . The flower buds were used for yellowing ( dye plant ).

Its spicy, partly smoky-earthy and slightly fragrant oil comparable to the aroma of bay leaves is also often used in perfume production.

The plant was previously thought to have an effect against gum disease.

Literary meaning

The poet Hermann Löns devoted a detailed description of the shrub and its repression in cultural landscapes. It appeared in the anthology Mein buntes Buch and is entitled Der Porst .

In the novel Patschel by the Lower Rhine writer Heinrich Malzkorn , the Gagelstrauch is mentioned repeatedly as a symbol for the flora along the Schwalm that was still intact in the 1930s .

Illustrations

  • Flowering female nail bush

  • Flowering male nail bush

  • Catkins of the female nail bush

  • Male hail catkins

  • Gagel shrub area in the Ostenholz Moor

literature

  • Peter Lietz : The raw materials and additives in the history of beer production. In: GGB Yearbook 2004. Society for the History of Brewing eV (GGB), Berlin 2004, ISSN  0072-422X , pp. 154–156.
  • Frank Lorberg: The Disappearance of the Gagels. In: Gagel, Speik and Plantain. Contributions to plant sociology, landscape and vegetation studies. (= Notebook of the Kassel school . 52). Kassel 1999, pp. 82-107.
  • Thomas Prolingheuer, Klaus Kaplan: On the socialization and location of the Gagels (Myrica gale L.) in Westphalia. In: Metelen series of publications for nature conservation. Book 1, Metelen 1990, pp. 39-57.
  • Ruprecht Düll , Herfried Kutzelnigg : Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany and neighboring countries. The most common Central European species in portrait . 7th, corrected and enlarged edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1 .

Web links

Commons : Gagelstrauch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Myrica gale L., Moor-Gagel. In: FloraWeb.de.
  2. ↑ HA Pierer (Ed.): Universal Lexicon of the Present and Past. 17th volume, 4th edition, 1863, p. 214, limited preview in the Google book search.
  3. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas. 8th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , p. 299.
  4. ↑ a b c d Ruprecht Düll, Herfried Kutzelnigg: Botanical-ecological excursion pocket book. Quelle & Meyer-Verlag, 1994, ISBN 3-494-01229-6 .
  5. ↑ Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. 2nd Edition. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-440-11965-5 .
  6. ↑ a b c d e Lutz Roth, Max Daunderer, Kurt Kormann: Toxic Plants - Plant Poisons. Occurrence, effect, therapy, allergic and phototoxic reactions. With a special section about poisonous animals. 6th, revised edition. Special edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86820-009-6 .
  7. ↑ M. Nakata, T. Myoda, Y. Wakita et al .: Volatile components of essential oil from cultivated Myrica gale var. Tomentosa and its antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. In: Journal of Oleo Science. 62, 9, 2013, ISSN  1345-8957 , pp. 755-762.
  8. ^ J. Popovici, C. Bertrand, E. Bagnarol, MP Fernandez, G. Comte: Chemical composition of essential oil and headspace-solid microextracts from fruits of Myrica gale L. and antifungal activity. In: Natural Product Research. 22, 12, 2008, ISSN  1478-6419 , pp. 1024-1032.
  9. ^ Christian Rätsch: Urbock - beer beyond hops and malt. AT Verlag, Arau 1996, ISBN 3-85502-553-3 .
  10. ↑ P. McGovern, G. R, Hall, A. Mizoian: A biomolecular archaeological approach to 'Nordic grog'. In: Danish Journal of Archeology. 2 (2), 2014, pp. 112-131, doi: 10.1080 / 21662282.2013.867101 .
  11. ^ Heinrich Beck, Karl-Ernst Behre: Porst. In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . Volume 23, de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2003, ISBN 3-11-017535-5 , pp. 287ff.
  12. ↑ Andreas Fasel: When Altbier was still young . In: THE WORLD . June 19, 2013 ( welt.de [accessed August 4, 2020]).
  13. ^ Gagel as a spice at Gernot-Katzers
  14. ↑ http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/region/Der-Strauch-der-krankes-Zahnfleisch-heilt-article111483.html