Highlander bird – polygonum avicularae l.
Popular names: knotweed, bird buckwheat, goose grass.
Botanical characteristic. Buckwheat family. An annual low-growing herbaceous plant with a strongly branched, straight, often recumbent stem. The root is thicker than the branches, taproot, slightly branched. The leaves are elliptical, entire, alternate, small. The flowers are small, inconspicuous with whitish green (pinkish green) within the flower bed. The fruit is a nut. Blooms from July to late autumn (Fig. 16).
Spreading. As a weed grows throughout the entire territory of the Soviet Union, it is especially abundant in the middle zone of the European part. It occurs in fields, vegetable gardens, along roads, pastures, in settlements near dwellings.
Medicinal raw materials. Prepare the whole plant. The roots and aerial part are collected separately. Grass in the flowering phase up to 40 cm long is cut with a knife, sickle or secateurs, dense thickets are mowed. They are cleaned of impurities, yellowed and affected leaves, soil and dried in rooms with good ventilation, laying out the raw materials in a thin layer (2-3 cm) and stirring occasionally.
The shelf life of the herb is 2 years.
Chemical composition. The grass contains a large amount of ascorbic acid, carotene, vitamin K, flavonol glycoside avicularin, silicic acid compounds, sugars, mucus, protein, tannins and other substances.
pharmacological properties. Galenic forms of the plant, when administered intravenously, lower blood pressure, increase respiration and uterine contractility, increase blood clotting and increase diuresis. The latter is accompanied by the excretion of excess sodium and chloride ions in the urine, which leads to an increase in filtration in the renal glomeruli and a slowdown in reverse resorption in the tubules. The presence of silicic acid in the grass, which is excreted in high concentrations in the urine, prevents the formation of urinary sand and stones.
The tannins of the plant have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and astringent properties. It has been established that galenic products of knotweed after oral administration to animals reduce inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, negatively affect the microflora, reduce absorption from the intestine and stop diapedetic bleeding. At the same time, flavonoids, silicon compounds and tannins contribute to the hemostatic effect, which reduce the permeability of the walls of blood vessels and increase blood clotting.
Application.Galenic forms of the plant are used as uterine, hemostatic agents in the postpartum period with insufficiently reversed development of the uterus, with uterine bleeding, as a diuretic. Infusions and collections of knotweed are used for chronic diseases of the urinary tract, accompanied by a weakening of the filtration function of the renal glomeruli and the appearance of mineral salts in the urine, especially salts of oxalic acid. They are prescribed for urolithiasis, as they contribute to the discharge of sand and stones, acting anti-inflammatory. Galenic products of the plant are recommended for gastrointestinal diseases accompanied by diarrhea, bleeding from the vessels of the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines, and liver diseases. Infusion of highlander bird is prepared from 15 g of grass (3 tablespoons) per 200 ml of water, store in a cool place up to 2 days. Approximate dose: for calves1 /3-1/4 cup 2-3 times every day before Feeding, for cows 2-3 cups per dose.
The herb of the plant is contraindicated in acute inflammation of the kidneys, since the silicic acid salts contained in it irritate them.