The seeds of a highly poisonous weed were mixed in the field of agricultural crops. This poisonous weed started growing like an alien in a field of Russian oats (Russian oats) in Finland. What a terrible thing! A poisonous weed called corn-cockle has been cultivated with cereals for thousands of years, even if farmers don’t want to. Corn-cockle became a familiar weed in rye fields from the North to South-Oyster Islands. In particular, during the years when Finland had to import grain seeds from abroad, corn-cockle became very popular in Finland. Along with all those imported seeds, corn-cob seeds also came to the crop fields. Acre after acre of vast farmland. Picking the weeds out of it was a very difficult thing.
This weed plant was found in the early Stone Age inhabited areas of Europe. Traces of it have also been found in the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii. The whole plant of corn-cockle is poisonous, especially the seeds, which contain a compound (githagin, agrostemmic acid), which is very toxic. If they are not picked apart during the harvest of wheat or other crops, they can be ground into whole flour or flour. would have poisoned and spoiled the taste of the food. Eating the food mixed with corn-cockle would give people a headache, vomit, and even worse. Scientists have proven that 5 seeds of corn-cockle can cause a person to die. Sufficient to occur. They paralyze the human respiratory system, resulting in death.
And like all perennial grains, they produce lots of seeds. A single plant can produce 2,500 seeds, enough to put farmers in danger. Corn-cock prefers arable land. In temperate countries, during the winter season in the country, their seeds are mixed with the soil and germinate again during the growing season. Finland has changed their farming system with a lot of talent and hard work in the last hundred years. This weed was almost eradicated from Finland by the 1960s through particularly efficient seed purification. Corn-cockles are now grown as exotic ornamental flowers in Finland. The scientific name of corn-cockle is Agrostemma githago. They are part of the Caryophyllaceae family. Corn-cockle plants can grow up to about 100 cm tall. The flowers are usually up to 5 cm in diameter. Very attractive pale pink flowers. Flowers have no scent. The plant is covered with strong long and fine hairs. Life spans from May to September in the Northern Hemisphere and from November to March in the Southern Hemisphere. This plant is found in crop fields, roadsides, around train lines, wheat fields, fallows and disturbed areas.
Corn-cockle was a well-known weed in wheat fields in Europe in the 20th century. The seeds of these weeds were carelessly collected mixed with wheat seeds and sown again next year with wheat grains without the farmer noticing. At that time most of the wheat seeds were mixed with some corn-cockle seeds. Intensive mechanized farming systems in Europe have put this weed in danger. Now this weed is almost non-existent in Europe. Widespread use of herbicides is partly responsible for their departure, and another factor is the development and use of changing agricultural research technologies. Most wheat is now planted in the fall as winter wheat and is harvested before the corn-cobs flower. It is reported that the weed is still found in the United States, parts of Canada, Australia and parts of New Zealand. The weed was believed to have been eradicated from the UK by 2014. Recently, an assistant ranger of the National Trust of Sunderland, Britain suddenly found a single tree one day in Sunderland.
All parts of the plant are poisonous. Despite the risk of serious poisoning, this poisonous plant has been used in folk medicine or indigenous medicine as a diuretic, expectorant, vermifuge, etc. A very small amount is used to treat cancer and warts. Corn-cockle has long been used for dropsy and jaundice. It is not used in allopathic medicine. Its seeds have been used successfully in homeopathic medicine against paralysis and gastritis.
There is a common saying, poison-poison. We can see that in reality. Wherever poisons exist, there are rare potions to be found. As soon as people are killed by snake venom, medicines for various incurable diseases are made from the same snake venom. Corn is no exception. Just as they are the cause of death for humans, this same plant is being used as a source of rare medicines for many dire diseases. Nature has exhausted countless resources, which are scattered in different ways, through different mediums. Humans have to find those rare minerals. People have to find the right resources from all these scattered sources and use them for the welfare of people.
