Lamiaceae – Lamiaceae (Labiatae).
Popular names: dead nettle, cuckoo nettle, dead nettle, white nettle.
Parts Used: Flowers.
Pharmacy name: white lamina flowers – Lamii albi flos (formerly: Flores Lamii albi).
Botanical description. A perennial plant with a long creeping rhizome and a tetrahedral hollow stem, up to 30-40 cm in height. Pure white, relatively large flowers with a pleasant honey smell are placed in whorls on the stem in the axils of the upper leaves. Oppositely sitting leaves petiolate, ovate-heart-shaped, serrated. Blooms from April to October. It grows in shady places, along roadsides, in bushes and near fences.
Collection and preparation. Collect fully developed flowers without a calyx, carefully dry in the shade. Store in well-closed containers, otherwise the raw material easily becomes moldy. During storage, the flowers acquire a dirty gray (to brownish) color.
Active ingredients: saponins, mucus, tannins, essential oil, flavonol glycosides.
Healing action and application. Scientific medicine is rather reserved about the use of lucidum. Moreover, the opinion about its successful external and internal use for leucorrhoea in girls has not been confirmed by experience. Scientific medicine also denies the beneficial effect of this medicinal plant in irregular and painful menstruation. As possible areas of application, the German National Health Service names catarrhs of the upper respiratory tract, as well as gastrointestinal diseases. With these ailments, white lamb is often used together with yarrow in a ratio of 1: 1. Tea from this mixture, also from one of the cassava, is given to girls and young women who experience pain in the lower abdomen a few days before menstruation.
- Lamb tea: 1-2 teaspoons of flowers (or mixed with yarrow) are poured into 1/4 liter of water, heated to a boil and infused for 5 minutes. After straining, the tea is ready to drink. Dosage: 2-3 times a day for a cup. It is recommended to drink for a long time with the above diseases.
Use in homeopathy. Homeopathic product Lamium album is obtained from fresh leaves and flowers and is prescribed in medium dilutions (D 1 -D6) for diseases of the kidneys and bladder. Usual dosage: 10-15 drops every day.
Application in folk medicine. In some areas, lamella flower tea is drunk instead of black tea because of its pleasant taste. It is claimed to have a beneficial effect on anemia, loss of appetite, skin inflammations and lung diseases. As a medicine, traditional medicine recommends it for painful menstruation and leucorrhoea in women and girls. Laminaria tea is given to the elderly as a sleeping pill and sedative. It certainly affects the fact that tea is sweetened (this should not be done for diabetics). It is used externally for whites (washing), also for panaritium. In the latter case, a mixture of white lamb and arnica is often used in equal parts. Prepared as a tea, this mixture can be used as a poultice on hard-to-heal wounds.
Side effects . The young leaves of both white and purple cassava are a good vegetable dish in spring. Cooked like spinach. Side effects for both external and internal use should not be feared.