Name: Field steel
FIELD STEEL
A perennial herbaceous plant of the legume family with a tap root and numerous lateral branches. The stems are straight, ascending, branched, red-brown in color, up to 80 cm high. The lower and middle leaves are trifoliate, the upper ones are simple, oval-elliptical. The flowers are pink, large, moth-like, sitting two by two on short pedicels in the axils of the leaves, forming dense spike-shaped inflorescences. The fruits are two-seeded, easily cracking beans. Blossoms in June-August, fruits ripen in July-September.
Distributed in the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the European part of Russia, in the Caucasus, in the Crimea, South Siberia. It grows in wet meadows, along river banks, on the outskirts of swamps. Along with the field stalk, you can use a close look – the ancient stalk, quite common in Central Asia and Kazakhstan.
Roots are medicinal raw materials. The active ingredients in them are flavonoids. In addition, tannins, essential oil, saponins, and citric acid were found in the roots. They dig up the roots at the end of the growing season, in September-October, cut off the aerial parts, shake off the soil, wash, dry in the air, then dry in dryers at a temperature of 40-45 ° C or in well-ventilated rooms. The raw material is hygroscopic, so it must be stored in a dry place. The finished raw material is pieces of longitudinally furrowed roots, often twisted, with a brown tuberculate bark. At the break, the roots are slightly fibrous, yellowish-white or grayish in color. The taste is bitter with a sugary-sweet aftertaste.
In medical practice, a decoction and tincture of harrow is used to treat hemorrhoids. The roots have a hemostatic, diuretic and intestinal function regulating action. Treatment with a decoction of harrow will lead to the elimination of constipation and the normalization of stools, a significant improvement in well-being and the cessation of hemorrhoidal bleeding in the first 7-10 days.
In folk medicine, the roots of the harrow are also used as a diaphoretic and diuretic. Infusion and decoction of the roots are used for dropsy, kidney and bladder stones, gout and rheumatism. In chronic skin diseases, water extracts are sometimes taken internally as a blood purifier.
Application
Alcohol tincture (in pharmacies) – 1 teaspoon 2-3 times every day.
Decoction of roots: 30 g of crushed roots are poured into 1 liter of water and boiled until 0.5 liters of decoction is obtained. Then filtered and stored in a closed bottle in a cool place. Take 1/4 cup 3 times every day for 2-4 weeks with hemorrhoidal bleeding, to improve well-being and other ailments.
Infusion: 30 g harrow per glass of boiling water, 1 tbsp. spoon 3 times daily for dropsy, kidney and bladder stones and as a diuretic.
Powder: 0.3-0.5 g 3 times every day (the effect is like that of an infusion).
Tincture 50%; 40-50 drops per reception 3 times every day for hemorrhoids.