Ландыши. Не только для нас.

МАОУ «Гимназия №1 Октябрьского района г. Саратова»

 “Lilies of the Valley.Not only for us”

«Ландыши. Не только для нас»

                                         Работа ученицы 9 «А» класса

                                                     МАОУ «Гимназия №1Октябрьского

                          района г. Саратова»                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                          Кузнецовой Алины                                        

                 Руководитель:

                                                     Перепелкина Наталья Геннадьевна,

                                       учитель английского языка

           МАОУ «Гимназия №1Октябрьского

                          района г.Саратова»

Саратов 2014

Contents

Introduction ……………………………………………… ………..2

Chapter 1.  Botanical Description of Lily of the Valley…………… 3

Chapter 2.  Therapeutic Uses and Benefits of Lily of the Valley…    4-5

Chapter 3. Lily of the Valley in Legends and Traditions and Poetry..6-7

Chapter 4. Lily of the Valley is in Danger…………………………...8

Chapter 5. Social Project “Protect Lilies of the Valley! The Beauty will

 save the world!” ……………………………………………………   9

Chapter 6. The Opinion Poll………………………………………      10-11

Conclusion…………………………………………………………     12

Bibliography List…………………………………………………….  13

                                                                               “ The beauty will save the world”
                                                                                                         Ph. Dostoevskiy  

Introduction                                                      

        The great Russian writer Phyodor Dostoevskiy said that the beauty will save the world .  It wakes the feeling of happiness and joy in a person. It helps to forget the troubles.

I often go for a walk to Oktyabrskoe Gorge in the suburbs of Saratov to admire the beauty of nature.  In spring  the forest is  filled with the charming smell of the lilies of the valley.
It is no doubt, this beautiful flower is worth admiring. It attracts a lot of human attention. People try to decorate their houses with these flowers.
          But every year the number of lilies of the valley becomes fewer. It’s decreasing in Saratov region nowadays. Will our children and grandchildren be able to admire this flower in future?

        This issue disturbs me very much. I find this problem topical. That is why   I’ve chosen it for my research.

The main aims of my research are:

- to prove  that the  lilies of the valley have always been  essential for human beings;

- to explore the problem of saving of the lilies of the valley in Saratov region and find some ways to solve it.

        The tasks of my research are:

1. to learn the botanical description of the flower;
2. to study its importance and uses in some spheres such as medicine,
   gardening, perfumes;
3. to learn legends and traditions connected with the lily of the valley;
4. to explore the reasons why the lily of the valley is becoming extinct;
5. to hold an opinion poll with my peers to know what they think of the problem of  lilies’ of the valley protection;
6. to organize a social project “Save the Beauty of the Future” to protect the lily of the valley in Saratov region.

Chapter 1

Botanical Description of Lily of the Valley

Convallaria majalis or Lilium convallium, commonly known as the Lily of the Valley, is a  sweetly scented flowering plant.

It is native to Europe, but it is found abundantly throughout the Eastern United States, Northern Asia and in England.

The bell-shaped flower is usually white in color, on rare occasions it can have pink flowers. The sweet-scented petals measure approximately 5-10 mm diameter. They curl backwards.

 The plant stems grow to 15-30 cm tall, with one or two leaves10–25 cm long ; the leafless flowering stems have a raceme of 5-15 flowers at the apex of the stems which hang downwards.

C. majalis is a herbaceous perennial plant that forms extensive colonies by spreading underground stems called rhizomes. New upright shoots are formed at the ends of stolons in summer. The plants grow close together to make large dense patches.

 In the autumn, the plant produces shiny red berries 5–7 mm diameter that contain a few large whitish to brownish colored seeds that dry to a clear  round bead 1–3 mm wide.  
The lily of the valley is pollinated by bees, the plant is self-fertile .

This woodland plant flowers in late spring, but it will bloom in March if the winter has been mild.  

4. Chapter 2
5. Therapeutic Uses and Benefits of Lily of the Valley

In Medicine

Lily of the valley received its formal scientific name in Latin (Lilium convallium) in 1737, when the famous Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus naturalist first published the first description of a May lily of the valley, with the Latin name means «lily of the valley».

This publication was about the methods of preparation of medicines and medicinal properties of lily of the valley.

            Lily of the valley affects the heart rate, enabling it to function regularly and efficiently, reducing irritability of the myocardium without increasing the amount of oxygen required by the heart muscle, at the same time it increases its power.

In treatment of heart ailments, the leaves and flowers have been used for centuries for their cardiac glycosides; convallotoxin, convallotoxol, convalloside, convallotoxoloside, convallarin, glucoconvalloside and convallamarin . It also contains the saponins convallaric acid, asparagin, and flavonoids.

 The active cardiac glycosides in the lily of the valley are released consecutively, and do not cause a toxic problem to the kidneys.  The plant’s flavonoids stimulate the arteries, the asparagine  acts as a diuretic, making it a good herb for high blood pressure.

An ointment made from the plant roots is used to treat burns preventing scar tissue.

Lily of the valley combined with lavender is applied to the forehead and back of the neck as a treatment for brain illnesses such as melancholy, depression, epilepsy, and stroke to restore mental balance.

The herb is used for weak contractions during childbirth as well as for angina and conjunctivitis and leprosy.

Lily of the valley is recommended for strengthening the brain and weak memory.

In aromatherapy

        The essential oil of lily of the valley is used to relieve depression, imbue gentleness, happiness, modesty and sense of security.

In Gardening

Convallaria majalis is a popular garden plant, grown for its scented flowers and for its ground-covering abilities in shady locations. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. In favourable conditions it can form large colonies.

In Perfumes

The aroma of the Lily of the valley is one that has captivated perfumers for several hundred years.

In the modern times, the production of a genuine Lily-of-the-valley absolute is out of the question. The flowers are very tiny and the people power required to harvest the crop would be huge.  So, the question of producing a genuine material, if it was difficult 100 years ago, has now become virtually impossible.

This particular aroma is highly valued because of the emotional impact the flowers produced on those smelling them. As the aroma of the flower was investigated by various means, many of its major components were identified and synthesized so that it became relatively easy to produce some semblance of the flowers fragrance in the lab.

10. Chapter 3
11. Lily of the Valley in Legends and Traditions and Poetry

The Latin name Convallaria means "valley" and Majalis means "blooming in May" (from Greek).  In different countries it’s associated with love, tenderness, innocence, faith… This flower inspires people for legends, traditions and poetry.

 In Russia there is a legend about princess of the Sea Volkhova who fell in love with Sadko. But he gave his heart to Ljubava, the Princess of Forests and Valleys. Volkhova came from the sea to the land and started crying. Her dropped tears appeared with Lilies of the Valley—a symbol of sorrow, love, purity and innocence.

In England the story says that the flowers first grew during Saint Leonard’s battle with a dragon; everywhere his blood spilled on the ground, a Lily of the Valley plant sprang up.

The flower is also known as Our Lady's tears or Mary's tears from Christian legend which tells that the flowers first bloomed where Mary’s tears hit the ground at the foot of the Cross during the crucifixion of Jesus.

     Another legend is about a bitter love of  Lily of the Valley by Spring, which shed tears when his beloved was gone.

In Germanic mythology lilies are associated with the virgin goddess of spring Ostara. The lily symbolizes life to Pagans and the blooming of lily of the valley flower heralds the feast of  Ostara. The sweet fragrance and whiteness of the flowers symbolize the humility and purity of its patron goddess.

           In North America, the Indians, who lived in what is now Massachusetts, considered sacred lilies flowers. Scientists still argue about how the flower got there. In the West, May Birth Flower grows only in Massachusetts. Today, lily of the valley is one of the three characters in this state (the rest – seagull and elm).

This flower was the favourite of great Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky:

        
 What is the secret of your charm?                
Do not know? But I am the fragrance,          
As the wine flows, and warms and poises    
Like music, it slows my breathing.       
And, it’s the fire of love.                             .

A. Fet devoted the liliy of the valley his poem too.

Oh?The first Lily of the valley!            
          From under the snow                        
         You ask sunlight;                              
         What virgin Nega                            
         In a scented purity of thine!

In the "language of flowers", the lily of the valley signifies the return of happiness. The legend tells of the affection of a lily of the valley for a nightingale that did not come back to the woods until the flower bloomed in May.

Lily of the valley is a popular flower for weddings, although it can be very expensive. Duchess of Cambridge had her bridal bouquet featuring Lily of the Valley.   Lily of the Valley was  in the bridal bouquet at the Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Lily of the valley was also the flower chosen by Princess Grace Kelly  for her bridal bouquet.

At the beginning of the 20th century it became tradition in France to sell lilies of the valley on international labour day, May 1, by labour organisations and private persons without paying sales tax (on that day only) as a symbol of spring.

 The Norwegian municipality Lunner has a lily of the valley in its coat-of-arms.
Lily of the valley was the floral emblem of  Yugoslavia .

It became the national flower of Finland in 1967.

 Chapter 4

Lily of the Valley is in Danger

     Every spring   visiting  Oktyabrskoye Gorge we see  the number of flowers  getting fewer and fewer. Lily of the valley is in danger of extinction in Saratov Region.  Nowadays lily of the valley is not put into the Red Book. But it is in the Addition to the Red Book.

Why is it happening?

    Because humans cause terrible damage to the habitat of the flowers. When they pick  the flowers they destroy the zhizomes of the plant. But destruction the only part of the zhizome causes the extinction of the whole colony  of  lilies of the valley in the wood.

Humans pick  a huge number of flowers not only for themselves but to sell in the streets.  We managed to find out these places in our city:

in Kirov Avenue not far from Chapaeva Street;

at the main post office in Chapaeva Street;

at Hay Market;

at the bus stop Vtoraya  Dachnaya;

at the bus stop Tretya Dachnaya.

A lot of people buy lilies of the valley  and  in that way they support this illegal sale.

 Chapter  5

Social Project “Protect Lilies of the Valley! The Beauty will save the world!”

As we see Lilies of the Valley need protection. That’s why we have decided to hold a social project .
The main tasks of the project:
1) to inform the students of the our school about the benefit of lily of the valley in our life and about the problem of its protection;
2) to persuade them of saving the flowers;
3) to create posters inspiring  people not to pick flowers in the forest;
4) to create posters inspiring people not to sell flowers;
5) to create posters inspiring people not to buy flowers;
6) to put the posters on the territory of Oktyabrskoye Gorge in the forest  and in the    places of selling the flowers.

The participants of the project are my classmates (The students of the 8 ”A” class)
The time of organizing and holding the project: April-May, 2014

 Chapter  6

The Opinion Poll

To find out the attitude of people to the problem of protection of lilies of the valley in Saratov region, I have held the opinion poll with my peers.
30 students took part in it.
I asked the following questions:

1. Do you like lilies of the valley?
   a) Yes, they are my favourite flowers (16%)
   b) Yes (80%)
   c) No (4%)

2. Do you pick lilies of the valley in the forest?
   a)Yes, I like to do it every spring  (41%)
   b) Yes, but I pick only a few (25%)
   c) No, I don’t do it at all (34%)

3. Can you imagine your life in future without lilies of the valley?
   a)Yes, of course (8%)
   b)No, I can’t  (86%)
   c) It doesn’t matter for me (6%)

4. Are you ready to take part in the social project to project lilies of the valley?
   a) Yes, I am ready (80%)
   b) Not today (12%)
   c) It’s not my problem  (8%)

Conclusion

So, having done all tasks of our research, I have come to some conclusions:

• Lily of the Valley is an important plant for using in medicine, aromatherapy, gardening and perfumes.
•  People love and admire this flower. That's why there are a lot of legends, traditions and poetry regarding it.
•  Having studied the botanical description of the plant, I have found out that lily of the valley spreads through rhizomes underground and it is easy to do harm to the whole colony of the flowers.
• I have explored the reasons why the number of the flowers is getting fewer in our region, such as picking huge amounts of them and doing harm to the rhizomes of the these plants.
• I have decided to hold a social project in my class to protect lilies of the valley in Saratov surroundings.
• I have held an opinion poll which has shown that all my classmates love lilies of the valley  and most of them are ready to take part in the social project to protect them.

I am sure, lilies of the valley are very essential for us. And not only for us.  

We should care about this charming symbol of the Russian woods to know that not only we, but the future generations will be happy to admire this wonder of nature.

                                                       Biographic List

• http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%8B%D1%88 
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_of_the_Valley 
• https://www.google.ru/search?q=lily+of+the+valley&newwindow=1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=J-Q6U6LwO4eL4ASTroC4AQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=605 
• http://www.whitelotusaromatics.com/recipes/floral/lily_of_the_valley 
• Я познаю мир. Растения: дет.энцикл. / авт.-сост. Л.А. Багрова; худож. О.М. Войтенко. – М.: ACT: Транзиткнига, 2006.