Botanical description. Creeping rhizome of sandy sedge reaches more than 10 m in length, located parallel to the soil plane. Elevated shoots more or less spaced apart from each other depart from it. The trihedral stems of this perennial plant, 15-30 cm in height, are densely pubescent with hard hairs in the upper part; leaves are folded. Like all such herbs, each shoot ends in a spike-shaped inflorescence, often slightly inclined. Sandy sedge is a typical plant of the north of Europe, growing on the coast of the North and Baltic Seas, on dunes and coastal wastelands, in sandy pine forests.
Collection and preparation. The rhizome is dug up in early spring, before shoots appear on the plane. They are freed from sand, cut into 10-cm segments.
Active ingredients: saponin, tannins, glycosides, silicic acid, mucus, starch, very little essential oil.
Healing action and application. Who knows how to determine the effect of a medicinal plant on the basis of its composition, he will understand that this raw material is used as a blood purifier. Sandy sedge tea is especially often used for metabolic disorders such as gout. Official medicine treats it rather reservedly, but sandy sedge is very popular in folk medicine. o Sandy sedge tea: 2 teaspoons with the top of the raw materials are poured into 1/4 liter of cold water, brought to a boil, then infused for 10 minutes and filtered. Tea is taken 2-3 times every day for quite a long time.
Application in folk medicine. In folk medicine, this medicinal plant is considered curative for chronic bronchitis, lung diseases, rheumatism and gout, bladder diseases, skin diseases and irritations. Sedge is also used for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, accompanied by colic and diarrhea. Sebastian Kneipp speaks very commendably about the sand sedge.
Side effects. In case of acute inflammation of the kidneys, sandy sedge should not be used because of their possible irritation with saponins. In other cases, side effects should not be feared.