Ajuga reptans; girlish beauty; Lamiaceae (Labiatae) family; Creeping creeper
On green meadows in mid-May, following the primroses, low plants with lilac-blue flowers appear. It is a creeping sedge, a herbaceous perennial 8-35 cm tall, with a creeping rhizome and shoots covered with leaves. The stem of the plant is erect, single, unbranched, four-sided, covered with thin hairs. Basal leaves are long-petiolate, oblong or ovate. Stem leaves are sessile or short-petiolate, obovate, notched-toothed. The perianth is sometimes bluish. The flowers are blue, blue-violet, rarely pink or white, gathered in panicles. Flowering time — May-June. It usually grows on meadows, slopes, among bushes, in forests. It happens very often in the non-chernozem zone of Russia, less often in the black earth zone. In Ukraine, it grows in forest and forest-steppe areas — in mixed and deciduous forests,
To prepare medicines, the aerial part of the plant is collected during the flowering period, cutting it with a knife or sickle.
Throat products are used only in folk medicine. The finished raw material contains tannins, traces of alkaloids and volatile oil.
The plant has many valuable medicinal properties, unfortunately, it is now little known and rarely used. Folk healers have long used the hemostatic, anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic, and antiseptic effects of gorse. An infusion of the herb treats stomach ailments, diarrhea, gallstone disease, pulmonary tuberculosis, is used for colds, rheumatism, and inflammation of the uterine appendages. It is also used as an antimalarial agent. In addition, the infusion of the plant has the ability to improve metabolism. Externally, it is used for washing wounds, clogged areas, ulcers, gargling for diseases of the oral cavity and angina. The head is washed with the infusion of the plant to prevent hair loss due to baldness. Grass juice and fresh finely chopped leaves are also used externally.
Bees collect a small amount of nectar from the flowers of the gorse.
Herbal infusion. 2 tablespoons of raw material per 200 ml of boiling water. Insist for 2 hours, filter. Take 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day.
Herbal infusion (external). 5 tablespoons of raw materials per 1 liter of boiling water. Insist for 4 hours, filter. For rinsing and rinsing.