Forest geranium (Geranium sylvaticum); Geraniaceae family; forest geranium
In forests and ravines, among shrubs, usually in wet places, you can often see curtains, and sometimes even solid thickets of forest geranium. This is such a common plant for the middle zone of the European part of Russia that everyone who entered the forest saw it.
In Ukraine, it is common in forest areas, less often in the north of the forest-steppe zone in meadows, among forest shrubs, in meadows.
Forest geranium is a herbaceous perennial 30-60 cm tall. The rhizome of the plant is vertical, thickened in the upper part. The stem is straight, branched at the top, covered with glandular-hairy pubescence. The leaves are seven-lobed, with rhombic, incised-toothed lobes. Flowers are usually lilac, sometimes purple or pink, rarely white with lilac veins – albino. The plant blooms in May-June. The fruit is dry, splits into 5 one-seeded lobes.
Forest geranium is used as a medicine only in folk medicine. The aerial part of the plant is collected during flowering. Dry under shelter in the open air; store in well-ventilated areas.
The aerial part contains tannins and alkaloids.
Herbalists, using the astringent properties of forest geranium, use it to treat dysentery, acute and chronic enterocolitis, and diarrhea.
Bees know Geranium very well. One flower of the plant releases 2-5 mg of nectar containing 40-50% sugar. True, the honey productivity of forest geranium is not too high: 10-50 kg from 1 hectare of thickets, but the plant is widespread and always ready to treat insects. Honey collected by bees from geranium is dark red, with a specific taste and weak aroma, crystallizes into a cruino-granular mass.
Herbal infusion. 2 teaspoons of dry grass per 400 ml of cold water. Insist for 8 hours, filter. They drink 1-2 teaspoons after 1-2 hours.