Name: Chamomile without tongue
Chamomile without tongue (Chamomilla suaveolens); American chamomile, green chamomile, scented chamomile, green blush; Chamomile without tongue
An annual very aromatic bare plant of the aster family (complex flowers). Stems are erect, 5 (15) — 30 (40) cm tall, very branched from the base, densely leafy up to the very baskets. The leaves are twice or thrice pinnately dissected into linear-lanceolate, pointed lobes. The flowers are tubular, bisexual, greenish-yellow, with a short 4-lobed bend, collected at the ends of short stems and branches thickened at the top in small (5-8 mm in diameter) baskets; there are no reed flowers in the baskets. The fruit is an achene. Blooms in June – August.
Distribution . Chamomile comes from North America. It is common in our country as an adventitious plant. It grows throughout the territory of Ukraine in littered places, pastures, along roads, in crops.
Procurement and storage . Inflorescences and grass of the plant (Flores et Herba Matricariae discoideae) are used for medical purposes. Collect, dry and store in the same way as medicinal chamomile.
Chemical composition . Chamomile flowers contain essential oil (0.15-0.50%), flavonoids (quercimethrin, apigenin, luteolin-7-glucoside), choline, umbelliferone and its methyl ester, guerniarin, mucilage, gum, bitterness, tannins and salicylic and ascorbic acids. The essential oil contains bisabolol and sesquiterpenes, but no or very little chamazulene.
Pharmacological properties and use . Chamomile preparations are used as an antispasmodic agent for diseases of the alimentary canal and liver, spastic and chronic colitis accompanied by intestinal fermentation, anacidic gastritis, and as a choleretic agent. In traditional medicine, in addition to all the above-mentioned cases, this plant is used for colds (anti-inflammatory and diaphoretic effect), in case of migraine and insomnia (sedative effect), for menstrual cycle disorders and as an effective remedy for helminthiasis, especially in children (destroys roundworms, pinworms and hair heads and, unlike ordinary tansy, is a non-toxic agent). When used externally, the products of common chamomile have a dermatonic and anti-inflammatory effect and are used on a par with medicinal chamomile.
Medicinal forms and applications . Internally – a tablespoon of inflorescences is infused for 1 hour in a closed vessel with 300 ml of boiling water, filtered and consumed half a glass of infusion 3 times a day (with ascariasis drink 150 ml in the morning and in the evening, combining the evening dose with a decoction of buckthorn bark or an infusion of leaves cassia sharp-leaved;
in case of colic, simultaneously make enemas with 50-100 ml of the same infusion);
a tablespoon of a mixture (equally) of chamomile flowers, fruits of common fennel and leaves of lemon balm are infused in a glass of boiling water and drunk in sips of 2 glasses a day for several days in case of trichocephalosis.
Externally – baths made from a decoction of chamomile grass (200 g of raw material per 8 liters of water) for colds and rheumatism.