Hello!
What kind of trees you will not meet on our planet.
And today we will introduce you to a very interesting tree that few people have heard
of.
Let's talk about the candy tree.
Scientifically, the plant is called Govenia sweet.
It belongs to the buckthorn family.
The plant got its name in honor of the German senator David Gove, who helped the Swedish
naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg, who discovered this plant, finance his expedition to South
Africa, Java and Japan.
In China, it is called Guai-zao - "crooked date", and in Japan - raisin tree, because
the taste of the fruit resembles raisins.
A candy tree is called for its sweet fruits.
The edible parts of the twigs are high in sugar, making them taste like candy.
At the same time, they do not eat berries that ripen after the end of flowering, but
directly the stalks themselves, on which the flowers are held.
They have a thickened, up to 1 cm, very sinuous shape and dense viscous pulp.
It is these ripe brown stalks that are very sweet.
To taste, they, in addition to raisins, also resemble rum sweets with a hint of melon.
The homeland of this plant is India, China, Korea, Japan, the foothills of the Himalayas.
In the Soviet Union, govenia began to be bred as early as 1936 at an experimental station
in the dry subtropics in the Azerbaijani village of Mardakan, and then the plant settled in
other warm regions of the former Union.
And today this plant can be found in Sochi and on the territory of Abkhazia.
Interestingly, in Russia they knew well about this plant.
It was called caramel tree.
There is evidence that it has been cultivated in our country since the middle of the 16th
century.
Subsequently, the secrets of cultivation were lost.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the tree was again brought from Europe for aristocrats.
It was grown as an ornamental specimen.
It decorated the rooms of mansions with its beautiful and unusual appearance.
In the wild, govenia grows in the form of a tree, the size of which depends on the growing
conditions.
Usually it is a mighty spreading tree over 20 m high with a straight, smooth trunk covered
with gray-brown bark.
The branches, spreading out in different directions, form a luxurious spherical shape.
The trunk has a diameter of up to 75 cm.
The life span of the plant is up to 40 years.
But as a garden crop in our area, govenia acquires a more modest size, its height does
not exceed 4 m.
And if you take indoor trees, they do grow by a maximum of 1.5 m.
Wild govenia grows mainly in Eastern China, Japan and Korea.
Settles at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level, grows on moist sandy and loamy soils.
It occurs in subtropical forests, on rocky low slopes of mountains, among bushes.
The plant is very fond of sunlight and warmth.
Govenia has beautiful dark green foliage.
Leaves are arranged alternately.
They are simple, oval in shape, and reach a length of up to 15 cm, and a width of up
to 8 cm.
Leaves fall in winter.
Govenia blooms in June-July and turns into a beautiful creature strewn with delicate
white inflorescences.
On the branches bloom small light cream flowers of exquisite shape.
It must be said that govenia flowers have a white color at the beginning of flowering,
and then acquire a creamy hue.
The calyx is formed by ten thin petals that fold outward to reveal a crown of stamens.
The flowers form large clusters hanging in spherical clusters.
Their fragrance attracts honey bees that come to pollinate the plant.
Terry white clusters set off by green foliage are such a beautiful sight that it was the
reason for the frequent cultivation of the tree for decorative purposes.
By the time the fruits ripen, the stalks thicken greatly, become soft and sweet.
The stalks ripen in September and stay on the tree until spring.
They are strongly convoluted, with numerous tubercles and narrowings.
In diameter, they are no more than 1 cm.
At the beginning of ripening, they are light brown, and then acquire a reddish tint.
Ripe stalks are slightly wrinkled, with a tightened skin.
Frozen stalks are the most delicious - they have even more sweetness.
Govenia fruits are dry, gray-brown, rounded trihedral boxes that do not open in the inflorescences.
Pea-sized pods are attached to thick, fleshy brown stalks.
They are interconnected by a thin stem, which ends with an expanding corolla that protects
the base of the fruit.
At first they are bright green, and at the end of ripening they dry up and turn into
dark brown hard bumps.
They are not eaten because they do not have pulp.
Inside each box are seeds.
They contain protein and fats.
Seeds are used to produce seedlings.
Sugar in the very pulp of the stalks when they are dried is from 29 to 45%.
This is the main feature that the candy tree has.
The fleshy stalks contain fructose, glucose, potassium nitrate, protein, sucrose, and also
a lot of vitamins, malic and ascorbic acid.
Sometimes the contained sugary substances act on the surface of the stalks.
From each 25 - 35-year-old tree, almost 35 kg of stalks can be harvested.
The stalks, which are used in cooking and medicine, are harvested at the moment when
the fruits of the candy tree begin to ripen.
The stalks become juicy, yellowish or orange.
In the future, they are either consumed raw or dried.
In dried form, the stalks contain 40-48% sugars.
And from the extract of young shoots and seeds, a honey substitute is prepared.
The difficulty of mechanical harvesting limits their commercial value.
In cool climates, such as the British Isles, the pedicels may swell but lack the heat to
ripen.
Candy tree has a good durable wood, beautiful in appearance, with valuable technical properties.
These properties are of primary importance for the use of the wood of this plant.
Wood is used for the manufacture of various furniture and musical instruments.
The tree propagates not only by seeds, but also by layering.
Places of growth can be very diverse, and yet the plant prefers more fertile, loose
and moisture-rich soils.
The culture responds well to wind-protected and well-lit areas.
Tender young plants do not tolerate hard frosts, but adults (over 3-4 years old) can tolerate
short-term frosts down to about 20 ° C (possibly a little lower).
It also tolerates drought well.
The plant is used in cooking.
The seeds and stalks of govenia are used fresh and pressed, mainly for confectionery.
In Japan and China, alcoholic drinks are made from the stalks of the candy tree, which taste
like a mixture of beer and Russian mead.
Different variants of intoxicating drinks, which include the stalks of the candy tree,
have been known since ancient times.
Rum flavored spirits are also made from them.
In dried form, the stalks are eaten in Japan, India, China, Korea and the countries of Southeast
Asia.
Dried fruits are used like raisins.
Also, a sugar substitute is made from dried stalks.
In addition, many dishes are prepared from govenia: jams, candied fruits, syrups, jellies,
desserts.
Govenia fruits are added to compotes and other drinks, used as a condiment.
Candy tree is of great benefit in medicine in the treatment of various diseases.
Fruits are useful for high blood pressure.
Decoctions from the stalks are good for constipation and to reduce high fever.
Mastitis, dysentery, influenza, hepatitis, nosebleeds and other diseases can be cured
by a decoction of the roots and fruits.
Seeds are used for various poisonings, for sobering and as a diuretic.
Candy tree has long been used in Korean and Chinese traditional medicine to relieve intoxication
after excessive drinking.
To do this, brew a hangover tea.
It includes several components, including govenia seeds.
Such tea can also help treat fever, is suitable as a laxative, and is also used to treat liver
problems.
It is used for intestinal disorders.
It normalizes the stool, relieves the symptoms of flatulence.
Crushed fruits can also be used externally for wound healing, in the treatment of tumors,
burns, bruises and injuries.
Candy tree seed powder is used as a diuretic.
An infusion of this flour is a detoxifying agent that helps with poisoning.
The fruits of the candy tree have good healing properties due to the content in them
of a considerable amount of substances that can interfere with the oxidative processes
occurring in the body.
They well remove harmful toxic substances from it, and are able to restore damaged cells.
The harm of eating govenia lies in the fact that
in obese people it
can cause weight gain.
With an unstable hormonal background, a high concentration of sucrose aggravates this condition.
Also, the stalks of the candy tree should not be eaten by diabetics.
People who have food allergies should eat the product with caution.