The variety of representatives of the flora of our country keeps a lot of wonderful plants. Shamrock (fever, or consumptive grass) is one of these wonders of nature. Similar to clover, but with a number of medicinal properties. About the shamrock plant, the photo of which will be so familiar to everyone, is discussed in this article.
Botanical Data
Three-leaved watch (Menyanthes trifoliáta) - that is the name of this plant. Shamrock is a perennial herb common in temperate climates in the Northern Hemisphere. Its distribution range is from the arctic to subtropical zones of Europe and Asia, as well as North America. This plant is widely cultivated in the central part of Russia (Siberia and the Urals), in the Far East, in the southern part of Belarus, in Ukraine.
The ecological niche that this plant occupies in phytocenoses is also diverse. This plant can be found in swamps, on the shore of a stagnant reservoir or witha small current, in the shady part of the forest and in the composition of meadow plants.
To the question "The shamrock is a plant of what ecotope?" the answer is unequivocal: quite wide. In this regard, its morphoforms may differ slightly. For example, watch flowers can range in color from pale pink to lilac. And grass height can vary from 10 to 35 centimeters.
It has a branched and powerful rhizome of a creeping type, which serves as an organ of vegetative reproduction.
Appearance Features
The shape of the leaf plate is unchanged for the shamrock plant - it consists of three parts of an obovate shape. The leaves are arranged alternately, with a long petiole, large and basal.
Trefoil flowers are collected in an inflorescence brush, located on a long stalk. The formula of the bell-shaped flower is K5C5A5G2. Shamrock blooms in May and June, while the flowers open alternately. The plant is cross-pollinated and is a good honey plant. Fruits (boxes with 2 flaps) ripen by the end of August.
The pubescent petals of flowers make the banks of the marshes white, as if they are on watch. Together with sedge, horsetails and ferns, the trefoil (the photo below shows all the beauty and tenderness of the inflorescence) forms impenetrable thickets.
Many-faced plant
One plant has many names. As already mentioned, it is called a watch for location on the borders of water bodies. The name trefoil is associated with the shape of the leaf plate.
The specific name watch-trifol is derived from the Greek word, which means "open", alluding to the sequential opening of flowers in the inflorescence. In the works of ancient botanists, there is a Latin name for the watch - theophrasta, from the words "month" and "flower", because its flowers do not close at night.
People call the shamrock plant febrile, female frog, consumptive grass, bean.
Legend of Bitterness
Shamrock leaves taste bitter. Where did this bitterness come from, tells an ancient tale-legend. The evil stepmother drowned her stepdaughter, but the deity of the lake, Queen Magus, prevented her from drowning. The only condition for the girl who turned into a mermaid was not to leave the pond. But the girl disobeyed and ran away to meet her dwarf friends. For this, Volkhva forced her to stand "on watch", on the border of land and lake. The mermaid cried for so long that she turned into a plant, which became bitter from her bitter tears.
From rubbish to medicine
In nature, the plant is food for beaver, muskrat, elk and other forest dwellers. Pollination occurs with the help of insects, but the flowers do not have special nectaries and absolutely do not smell.
The shamrock became a medicinal plant in the 17th century. It was used in the treatment of fever, dropsy, jaundice. It has been widely used to treat and heal wounds in pets.
Powder from the leaves can be used as a seasoning for meat dishes to give them bitterness. Shamrock leaves are used in brewing to givespecial notes and bitterness to beer. The watch is also used to make green paint for painting.
Nakhodka for garden pond
This unpretentious and fast-growing plant with rhizomes can be a wonderful decoration for garden ponds. Flowers with a white fluffy corolla do not close at night and create a halo of glow around the artificial pond.
To breed it in an artificial pond, it is enough to throw the seeds of the trefoil or dig its rhizome on the shore. Sometimes the trefoil is placed in containers with holes and placed on the bottom, and removed after flowering. You can use the shamrock as a houseplant, but then it is already more often called common sorrel.
Trefoil does not require special care.
Medicinal leaves only
In pharmacology, only mature green leaves of the trefoil herb are used, which contain flavone glycosides (they give bitterness); amino acids methianine, gentianine; tannins and choline; unsaturated fatty acids (cholesterol antagonists) and vitamin C (ascorbic acid). But at the same time, it is very important to collect and prepare them correctly.
The collection of raw materials is carried out immediately after the flowers fade. Apical and young leaves are not harvested. In addition, when dried, they immediately turn black. Mature leaves are cut off with a cutting. For drying, the leaves are placed in the shade and in the air. Drying is possible in special dryers, where the temperature is maintained at about 40 ° C.
Finished raw materials are green dry leaves of the shamrock plant, thinand odorless, taste bitter. Humidity of raw materials - no more than 14%.
The shelf life of dried leaves is no more than 2 years.
Healing properties
Trefoil herb is actively used in folk medicine for the following problems:
- Disorders of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Loss of appetite.
- Disorders of the nervous system.
- Inflammatory processes of various etiologies.
- Meteorism.
- For constipation.
The high content of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in tinctures used to be used to treat scurvy. Bitter glycosides increase the secretion of the glands of the intestinal tract and pancreas, stimulate the outflow of bile. The leaves of the watch also contain iodine, so they are used for external healing of wounds and ulcers, with periodontal disease and gingivitis, stomatitis, tonsillitis and trophic ulcers. Tannins help to remove the half-life products of strontium-90 and other heavy metals from the body, which prevents the development of leukemia and radiation sickness.
The medical industry supplies a ready-made tincture of shamrock extract, and its leaves are part of the bitters. In addition, this herb is a part of many dietary supplements (BAA).
Infusions and tinctures
The use of preparations containing a three-leaf watch improves mood, stimulates metabolism. They have a sedative, blood-purifying, anticonvulsant, anti-febrile, analgesic and tonic effect.effect on the human body.
An antipyretic effect when taking an infusion from a three-leaf watch has its effect within an hour.
Watch is a part of medicinal herbal collections of sedative, choleretic and laxative action.
Homeopathy uses this herb to treat glaucoma, colds, nervous disorders and headaches.
But it is important to remember that decoctions and tinctures will not replace the main treatment. And although no contraindications and side effects have been identified when using the watch, it is advisable to consult with specialists before use.
And of course, pregnant women and nursing mothers should not experiment with this herb.
Traditional medicine and shamrock
Medicinal decoctions and infusions, alcohol tinctures, teas are prepared on the basis of this herb.
For gastritis and lack of appetite, take 1 gram of dry leaf powder 3 times a day. Or they prepare an alcohol tincture: 50 grams of grass is poured into 200 grams of vodka and insisted in a dark place for a week. Alcohol tincture is taken 15 drops 3 times a day before meals.
When coughing and bronchial asthma, decoctions are taken, which are prepared as follows: 1 tablespoon of grass is poured with a glass of boiling water, the cooled infusion is filtered. Drink this decoction 3 times a day for 1/3 cup. The same decoction is taken half a glass before meals three times a day for problems in the gastrointestinal tract.
Some recipes also use shamrock rhizome. It contains alkaloids, saponins and pectins.
External use
Dry leaf powder sprinkled on wounds and ulcers.
For external use, a steeper infusion is prepared, in the proportion of 10 grams of three-leaf watch leaves per 250 milliliters of boiling water. The infusion is filtered and used for compresses, lotions, for rinsing the mouth during inflammatory processes (stomatitis, gingivitis and tonsillitis).
Water tinctures are also used in the form of enemas to relieve the symptoms of hemorrhoids, as well as an anthelmintic drug. standard proportions of solutions - 10 grams of grass per 100 milliliters of water.
You can use diluted decoctions for soothing baths. Such baths are also used for scrofula in children.
And you can also make kvass
Fans of eco-drinks with exotic flavors can make kvass based on trefoil. To do this, take freshly picked leaves, wash, grind and boil for 10 minutes. Sugar and dry yeast are added to the cooled broth. After 12 hours, a refreshing drink is ready. The proportions of the ingredients are as follows: for 1 liter of water, 50 grams of leaves, 70 grams of sugar and 1.5 grams of yeast.
