Name: Caustic yolk – caustic buttercup
Ranunculus acris ; St. John’s wort is caustic
Perennial herbaceous, pressed-hairy plant of the family of the sedum family. The stem is single, erect, branched, 25-75 cm high. Basal and lower stem leaves are petiolate, pentagonal, pinnate, with elongated rhombic lobes, entire or toothed; upper leaves are sessile, three-parted. The flowers are single, bisexual, regular, five-parted, with golden-yellow shiny petals. The fruit is collective, consisting of seeds, cephalic. Blooms in May – August.
Spread. It grows in meadows, forest clearings and forest edges almost throughout the territory of Ukraine, except for the southern part of the Steppe.
Raw. The herb collected during the flowering of the plant is used for medicinal purposes.
The plant is unofficial .
Chemical composition . The herb contains alkaloids (0.1%), tannins (2.6%), y-lactones (ranunculin, anemonin, protoanemonin), vitamins (ascorbic acid — 170 mg %, carotene — 12 mg %), flavone and cardiac glycosides .
Pharmacological properties and use . Experimental studies and clinical observations revealed that the plant has antibacterial, antiviral, antitoxic, epithelizing and antituberculosis properties. Yolk is used mainly as an external remedy for the treatment of wounds, infected dermatoses and tuberculosis of the skin. Ointment from flowers on pork lard is rubbed with a cold. Internally, in small doses, a decoction of flowers was used for liver diseases. The plant is poisonous !