The Asteraceae family is Asteraceae, or Compositae
What does it look like? Perennial herb 100-150 cm, sometimes up to 250 cm tall. The rhizome is thick, fleshy, whitish inside with brown spots; its taste is bitter (burning), the smell is quite pleasant, strong. The stem is straight, furrowed, felty at the top, branched. The basal leaves are large, hairy on top, gray downy below, unevenly toothed, oblong-elliptical, sharp, narrowed into petioles; stem – alternate, heart-shaped-ovate, stem-wrapping. The baskets are quite large, up to 8 cm in diameter, single and in bunches, the flowers are yellow. Blooms in July – September.
Where does it grow? Scattered grows almost throughout the territory of Ukraine. Cultivated in gardens, grows wild in wet bushes, on high banks of rivers, especially on the soils of the chernozem zone, along ditches, on the edges of meadows, sometimes in forest glades.
What and when are collected? Rhizome with roots, in October. They are dried in the shade (rich in volatile oils, inulin, saponins).
When is it used? As an expectorant, somewhat diaphoretic and diuretic. By reducing the motor and secretory action of the intestines, it facilitates digestion and metabolism. Causes menstruation. It also has an anthelmintic effect (the active factor is allantic camphor: helenia, inulin, bitterness, mucus with a bitter substance – the compound allantopicrhyum and other substances). The effect of the roots of the high delusion is expectorant, bactericidal, they contribute to digestion (the sesquiterpene gelenidates like the eudesmol of eucalyptus oil).
Used in the form of tea. For 1 glass of water, take 1 teaspoon of crushed root (do not take more than 1 teaspoon, as it can cause vomiting). A decoction sweetened with honey or sugar is used for lack of appetite, sluggish digestion, poor and frequent belching, frequent bloating of the intestines, colic, gastritis, gastroenteritis, diarrhea of non-infectious origin and jaundice, scanty menstruation, breast diseases – together (equally) with althea root, – inflammation of the lungs, emphysema, pulmonary tuberculosis, bronchitis, tracheitis, to reduce the production of sputum, as the most effective expectorant – every 2 hours, 1 full tablespoon (thins thick, viscous sputum). It can also be used in the form of a powder from the crushed roots of the high delusion, mixed with honey, 5 teaspoons per day.
A decoction of fresh crushed rhizomes and roots of oleander high (2 tablespoons in half a liter of port wine boil for 10 minutes, drink 50 g twice a day after meals) is recommended for catarrh of the intestines and insufficient acidity of the stomach; also with pulmonary tuberculosis (MA Nosal). A water decoction of the roots of the oleander in combination with the grass of the naked sedum helps with acute and chronic calculous pyelonephritis.
During a severe cold, with the flu, when the patient breathes hard and has a runny nose, cough, after placing the jars and rubbing with turpentine, they give a decoction prepared from the rhizomes and roots of (equally) the rhizomes and roots of St. John’s Wort and St. John’s wort (1 tablespoon of each per 1 liter of cold water, boil for 10 minutes).
In case of anemia, in case of pale weakness (chlorosis), drink 2 glasses a day (with spoons) of a decoction of a mixture of roots and rhizomes of the tall grass, yarrow and yarrow grass – take 1 teaspoon of each per half liter of water and boil for 10 minutes.
In case of scabies, as recommended by M. A. Nosal, a handful of chopped roots and rhizomes of ergot are boiled for 15 minutes in 4-5 spoons of unsalted pork lard, 2 tablespoons of pure birch tar and the same amount of sulfur powder are added. This ointment is rubbed for several days, at night, on the body, washing it in the morning with a strong decoction (50 g per 1 liter of water) of high delusion . They change their underwear, bedding, and outerwear every day and thus get rid of this even very long-standing skin disease (the linen should be boiled, and woolen items should be ironed with a hot iron to destroy all scabies mites).
Baths made from a strong decoction of the root of the high delusion are taken for itchy rashes, and purulent ones – for scrofula – scabies, ringworm, neurodermatitis. Poultices from the crushed, boiled root are applied (for a few minutes, so as not to cause a burn) in case of joint disease. Powder from the root is thrown on hot coals to destroy flies, mosquitoes, and fleas with smoke.