Name: European wolverine – European wolverine
European wolffoot (Lycopus europaeus); European confederate
Perennial herbaceous plant of the labiumaceae family. The stem is grooved, erect, simple or branched, 30–120 cm tall. The leaves are short-petioled, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, with large teeth on the edge; the lower and middle ones are dissected at the base. The flowers are zygomorphic, collected in false rings, located in the axils of the middle and upper leaves; corolla bell-shaped, 4-lobed, white, with red spots. The fruit is a nut. Blooms in July – September.
Distribution . It grows throughout the territory of Ukraine in swamps, floodplain meadows, along the banks of reservoirs, in alder forests.
Procurement and storage . They use grass. It is collected during the flowering of the plant, dried under an iron roof with good ventilation or in dryers at a temperature of 40°. Store in dry rooms.
The plant is unofficial .
Chemical composition . The plant contains the glycoside lycopene (most of it is in the leaves), bitters, caffeic and ursolic acids, and resins.
Pharmacological properties and use . The liquid extract of the European wolfberry reduces arterial and venous hypoxia in experimental thyrotoxicosis, normalizes the main indicators of annual blood composition, reduces the weight of the thyroid gland and weakens the goiter effect. In folk medicine, European wolfberry is used as a sedative, hemostatic and antidiarrheal agent, and against malaria. An infusion of the herb is considered a good remedy in the fight against attacks of heavy heart palpitations, with base disease, heart rhythm disorders (extrasystole) and with uterine bleeding. A decoction of grass with a rhizome is used in Chinese medicine as a diuretic for edema, as well as for menstrual disorders and furunculosis.
Medicinal forms and applications.
Internally – infusion of the herb (20-40 g of raw material per 200 ml of boiling water) for half – a third of a glass 3 times a day.