Wartwort

In celandine very beautiful leaves - glubokoperistorazdelnye, with rounded lobes, green above, from below - blue-gray. Flowers with 4 bright yellow petals are gathered in a simple umbrella. Short life of flowers. Only 2 days to stretch the petals spring sun, only to give way to the fruits ripen - struchkovidnym box filled with shiny black, like poppy seeds. By the way, they are close relatives, and celandine poppy - from a family of Macs. In each the seed celandine is a white pectiniform appendage, which is considered a delicacy in ants: they feed sweetly seeds not only in place but are dragging them to my ant, losing part of the road. The following year, on ant trail grow new plants. Ants are ubiquitous, so celandine sometimes grows in the most unexpected places - even in the cracks of old stone walls.

Celandine is widely distributed throughout the European part, including the Caucasus and in Siberia - from the Tyumen region to the Pacific Ocean somewhere in Central Asia. Typically, the plant is a weed, but is found in sparse coniferous and mixed forests, clearings, glades, burned areas, in parks, gardens, near the roads increases typically groups, preferring moist and rich soil. Under the canopy of forest sparsely rare forms thickets.

As a medicinal raw material used celandine grass. The ancient Greeks noticed that this plant comes the arrival of swallows and fade with their departure and therefore called it "helidonium" (from the word "Helidon - swallow). Russian name "celandine" associated with the use of juice in folk medicine for skin diseases: nipplewort "is a plant called because its juice derive warts, and" yellow spurges "called out the fact that all the plant contains a yellow latex.

The milky juice of celandine contains several alkaloids, which the plant owes its action. And the doctors of antiquity, and today celandine is very popular. Roots, herbs and juice are used to treat a wide variety of diseases. Especially frequently used celandine in treating skin diseases: they removed the warts, drew freckles, acne, lichen. In Bulgaria, the juice of fresh plant is recommended as an effective tool for removing warts, in the form of baths - with metabolic disorders. In Germany - as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, for skin diseases. In Poland - hemorrhoids, in France - as a diuretic, aphrodisiac, laxative, the juice - against warts. Widely used in homeopathy: a powder and infusion of herbs - as an insecticide.

Domestic medicine currently celandine is used as a major component or assembly at liver and gallbladder. There is information about the positive results of treatment of psoriasis celandine. Yielded positive results and clinical experience on application of celandine for the treatment of itching dermatoses.

Grass harvested during the flowering plants (in the south is the second half of April, in the north - May). The grass is cut with scissors, sickles, shears, without rough parts of the stem. Collecting can be done only in dry weather. The collected grass is necessary, not compacted, folded into a basket or bag and transported immediately to the place dry. Drying should be rapid. With the slow drying and in those cases when the grass is expanded with a thick layer, it turns brown and rots. Optimum drying heat at a temperature of 50 - 60 œ C. When processing a large number of dry raw materials should use caution and wear a face wet gauze bandage, as the dust celandine causes severe irritation of the nasal mucosa. Shelf life of raw materials for 3 years. Celandine propagated by seeds and vegetatively.