KERMEK BROAD-LEAVED
Perennial herbaceous plant up to 80 cm high, taproot, thick, woody, dark brown above, red-brown at the break. The stem is shortened, below it looks like a root, with filiform adventitious roots, at the top it is covered with the remains of leaf petioles. The leaves are collected in a basal rosette, there are many of them, they are green or bluish-green, reddening at breaks, oblong-ovate or broadly elliptical. The flowers are numerous, small, blue-violet or white, collected in spikelets, which in turn form dense corymbose or pyramidal inflorescences, sitting on branching peduncles. Seeds oblong-ovate, dark purple-brown. Blossoms in July-September, seeds ripen in August-September.
It occurs in dry steppes, semi-deserts and deserts of the European part of Russia, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and the northern Caucasus. Grows on saline soils. Often forms extensive thickets.
For medicinal purposes, Kermek roots are used. They contain up to 23% tannins, due to which they are used for tanning and dyeing leather, dyeing wool and as a therapeutic astringent. The roots are dug up in late summer and autumn, from August to October. Then they are thoroughly shaken off the soil, cleaned of the remnants of leaves and small roots and dried in the sun or attics.
In folk medicine, kermek is used as a good astringent. A decoction or powder from the roots is prescribed for acute gastrointestinal diseases accompanied by diarrhea, and even dysentery. The fixing effect of Kermek is confirmed by clinical observations. Sometimes Kermek products are used for uterine and other internal bleeding as a hemostatic agent, for eczema, salt metabolism disorders.
Application
A decoction of the roots: 1:10, you can take 1/4-1/3 cup 3-4 times every day.
Infusion (decoction): 1 teaspoon of the roots insist 2 hours in 2 cups of boiling water and take 1-2 tbsp. spoon before meals 2-3 times a day.