(Fabaceae); dyeing gorse
People got acquainted with the useful properties of gorse back in the Stone Age. As we know from history lessons, at first people made clothes from flexible stems, leaves and tree bark, then they began to specifically look for plants from which fiber could be obtained. One of the first such plants was the gorse. This fact is confirmed by archaeological research: the remains of clothes woven from its fibers were found in the south of Spain. According to Pliny, in later times clothes made of gorse were worn by Spanish and Italian shepherds.
Drik krasilnyy is a bush up to 1.5 m tall. The leaves are alternate, short-petiolate, simple, linear or linear-lanceolate, pointed, glabrous or slightly pubescent. The flowers are large, irregular, bright yellow, collected in dense long apical tassels. The plant blooms in June-August. The fruit is a bean. It grows on dry meadows, forest edges, in forest-steppe, steppe, in pine and mixed forests, among shrubs, on slopes. In the middle lane of Russia — in almost all regions. In Ukraine, it occurs almost everywhere, less often in the southern regions, it is grown as a decorative and phytoremedial plant.
Modern man no longer uses coir as a source of fiber. Nowadays, it is primarily a medicinal plant. For medical purposes, the tops of stems with flowers are cut off during flowering. Dry them in the shade outdoors or in a well-ventilated room. Grass and gorse seeds are used only in folk medicine.
The raw material of the plant contains alkaloids — cytisine, methylcytisine and others, flavone glycosides, in particular luteolin, organic acids, essential oil (up to 0.03%), saponins, bitterness, macro- and microelements.
Folk healers use gorse as a diuretic, choleretic, vasoconstrictor, laxative, sedative and “blood-purifying” agent. It has been proven that plant products are effective in persistent uterine bleeding. They are also used for various types of jaundice, heart failure with low blood pressure, and diseases of the thyroid gland (goiter, hypothyroidism). Broths of gorse help with rickets, inflammation of the kidneys and bladder, and seeds (beans) with urolithiasis.
According to some sources, the plant is poisonous, especially the seeds. Its products are contraindicated in pregnancy, hyperthyroidism and hypertension.
In the past, yellow dye for linen and wool was obtained from the leaves, stems and flowers of gorse. In some places, it is still used in artisanal production.
Gooseberry bushes are often used in garden compositions as an ornamental plant, they are especially beautiful at dusk, when dark leaves are not visible, and light flowers seem to float in the evening air.
Drik attracts bees, but not with nectar, but with pollen, which, when processed, insects provide themselves with complete protein food – perga.
Herbal infusion. A tablespoon of raw materials per 200 ml of boiling water. Heat in a water bath for 15 minutes, filter, wring out, bring to the original volume with warm boiled water. Take 1 tablespoon 3 times a day for uterine bleeding.
Decoction of grass. 1 tablespoon of raw material per 200 ml of boiling water. Boil in a water bath until a third of the volume remains. Cool, filter. Take 2 tablespoons every 2 hours for dropsy and constipation until diarrhea begins and a diuretic effect occurs. The procedure is repeated every other day.
Decoction of grass (external). 4 tablespoons of raw material per 1 liter of water. Add to a full bath of water to treat lichen, diathesis (scrofula) and abscesses.