One-, two- or perennial herbaceous scattered-rough-hairy plant of the mallow family. The stem is decumbent or ascending, very branched from the base, 10-60 cm tall. The leaves are alternate, long-petiolate, with stipules, round-heart-shaped, notched, notched into 5-7 wide, rounded, unevenly serrate-toothed blades. The flowers are regular, bisexual, 2-10 in the axils of the leaves; petals are white or slightly bluish, notched at the top, equal to the length of the calyx or slightly longer than it. The fruit splits into 8-12 achenes. Blooms in June – October.
Distribution . Small sedges are found everywhere in yards, along roads, in littered places as a common weed throughout the territory of Ukraine.
Raw material . Leaves or the entire above-ground part (grass), which are harvested during the flowering of the plant, are used for the manufacture of medicines. The collected raw materials are pre-dried in the sun, and then dried under shelter in the open air.
The plant is unofficial .
Chemical composition . The whole plant contains mucilage and tannins; leaves – ascorbic acid (up to 200 mg%), tocopherol, carotene; seeds – fatty oil (up to 17.7%).
Pharmacological properties and use. Small kalachiki have a softening, expectorant, enveloping, soothing and pain-relieving effect. Mucus has a large adsorption surface and has an antitoxic effect. Preparations of small kalachiks are taken orally for diseases of the respiratory tract (bronchitis, dry uncontrollable cough, hoarseness, etc.), for inflammatory processes in the stomach and intestines, and for diarrhea. To enhance the therapeutic effect, the flowers and leaves of small scallions are combined with the flowers of common buckwheat, common buckwheat, and wild poppy, and with the herb of medicinal honeysuckle. Externally, in the form of rinses, washes, lotions, and poultices, small balls are used for gingivitis, inflammatory conditions of the upper respiratory tract, angina and hemorrhoids, and for the treatment of burns, wounds, ulcers, various forms of dyshidrosis, and other skin diseases. Small balls are often used as a substitute for medicinal algae. The curative and preventive diet includes salads made from young leaves of kalachyki.
Medicinal forms and applications .
Internally – infusion of flowers or leaves (1 tablespoon of raw material per 400 ml of boiling water, infuse for 1 hour) half a glass 3 times a day before meals, sweetened with honey;
infusion of leaves (2 teaspoons of raw material per 200 ml of cold boiled water, infuse for 3-5 hours) drink in sips of 1 glass per day;
a steam of a mixture (equally) of the flowers of small curlews, ordinary buckwheat, ordinary buckwheat, wild poppy and medicinal honeysuckle (50 g of the mixture per 1 liter of boiling water, steamed overnight in a thermos) 1 glass 5 times a day;
salad – washed kalachyk leaves are dipped in boiling water for 1 minute, chopped, onions, horseradish and salt are added, mixed, dressed with cream (for 100 g of kalachyk leaves, take 25 g of onion, 25 g of grated horseradish, 20 g of cream and salt).
Externally – a decoction of a mixture of flowers and leaves of small curls (1 tablespoon each in 1 glass of water) for rinsing and lotions;
infusion of a mixture (in equal proportions) of the flowers of small sedges, altea, black elderberry, and dense-flowered privet (1-2 teaspoons of the mixture per 200 ml of boiling water) for rinsing and lotions;
the warm residue after straining the infusion of flowers or leaves of kalachyki is applied to burns 2-3 times a day in the form of poultices;
infusion of the petals of kalachyki (two bundles per 200 ml of boiling water, infuse for 10 minutes) is used warm for compresses for fissures of the anus (Fissura ani);
lotion – 2 tablespoons of leaves of small curls are infused in 300 ml of cold boiled water for 1 hour and used for compresses (lotions) with excessive oiliness of the facial skin;
a mixture of the grass of small curls (200 g), wormwood grass, chamomile flowers, oat grains (150 g each) pour 5 liters of boiling water, infuse during the day, boil in the evening and add to the bath, which is taken at night when the spleen is enlarged (the duration of the procedure is 20-30 minutes).