Shepherd’s bag, shepherd’s bag

Name: Shepherd’s bag, shepherd’s bag

 

Shepherd’s handbag (Capsella bursa-pastoris L.)

Shepherd’s handbag is an annual plant representing the cruciferous family (Cruciferae). Other names: shepherd’s bag

Description:

A low (5-50 cm) annual plant with an erect, simple or branched stem, pubescent with simple and branched hairs, emerging from the middle of the basal rosette of leaves. The lower leaves are on long petioles, oblong-lanceolate, notched-toothed or pinnatipartite along the edges, collected in a basal rosette. Stem leaves are smaller, almost entire, with an arrow-shaped base, sessile, amplexicaul. The flowers are small, white, on short stalks, collected in the apical corymbose inflorescence, subsequently lengthening into a raceme. The fruit is a bivalve, obversely triangular-heart-shaped pod, flat, notched at the top, on long stalks almost horizontally spaced from the peduncle. Seeds are dark brown, oval, flattened. Blooms from the second half of April to September.

Harvesting, description of raw materials:

In medicine, the herb of the shepherd’s bag is used – Herba Bursae pastoris, which is harvested during flowering. The plant is pulled out, the root is cut off and dried in the shade. The raw material consists of flower stems 35-40 cm long with flowers, with underdeveloped fruits and a basal rosette of leaves; stems and leaves are dark green, flowers are yellowish-white. The smell is weak, the taste is bitter.

Contains active substances:

The chemical composition of the herb is little studied. Vitamin K, choline, acetylcholine, traces of tannins, organic acids, etc. have been found.

Medicinal use:

It is used in the form of an infusion and liquid extract as a hemostatic agent in obstetric and gynecological practice. In folk medicine, a decoction of the herb of the handbag is used for dysentery, diarrhea, gastritis, bleeding, liver diseases, heart diseases, women’s, venereal diseases, pulmonary tuberculosis, malaria; they drink infused vodka with a stomach ulcer.