Common gill (Galeopsis speciosa); gills; Lamiaceae (Labiatae) family; ordinary pikulnik
This plant is one of the most common weeds. Wherever you can’t find it – in fields, gardens, littered places near homes, forest edges and clearings. In one season, a whole forest grows on the sown square. Despite such unattractive properties, gill is actually a very useful plant. It is known that he is a good honey collector. It is also used in traditional medicine, and the oil obtained from the seeds is used for technical needs.
Zabriy is a herbaceous annual. The stem of the plant is erect, 10-100 cm tall, usually branched, thickened below the nodes, covered with coarse, truncated glandular bristles. It is prickly to the touch. The leaves are ovate-lanceolate or rhombic, with large teeth on the edges. The flowers are bisexual and have a two-lipped corolla. The upper lip is yellow, the lower lip has a bright purple spot. The flowers are collected by 6-10 in false rings in the axils of the upper leaves. They bloom in July-October. The fruit consists of four nuts. It grows throughout the European part of Russia (except the Far North) and in the south of Siberia. In Ukraine, it grows throughout the territory, more often it occurs in the right-bank forest and forest-steppe zone on weedy places, among bushes, in forests.
The aerial part of the plant collected during flowering is used to prepare medicinal products. The grass is dried in the shade in the open air.
Medicinal raw materials contain a large amount of silicic acid (up to 10%), tannins (up to 10%), bitter, resinous and waxy substances, essential oil and other compounds.
Preparations of gills thin out sputum and facilitate its separation. These properties are used in folk medicine to treat respiratory tract diseases. An infusion of the herb is prescribed for cough, bronchial catarrh and bronchial asthma. The use of this remedy also helps with inflammation of the urinary tract. There are data on the treatment of urolithiasis with the infusion of the plant, and it works not only curatively, but also prophylactically. In Bulgarian folk medicine, gabrium products are prescribed for malignant anemia (leukemia). Externally, the plant is used to treat panaritium and other inflammatory skin diseases.
Jabrium flowers are rich in nectar and pollen, which bees use to replenish their reserves for the winter. The honey productivity of the plant reaches 55-75 kg from 1 hectare of thickets.
Decoction of grass. 2 tablespoons of raw materials per 400 ml of boiling water, boil for 5 minutes, cool, filter. Take 1/3 cup 4 times a day.
Frequent use of gill products and their overdose cause muscle pain.