A perennial, short-haired plant of the family of oleanders, 5–10 cm tall. It has a creeping branched rhizome. The stem is short, recumbent. The leaves are basal, long-petiolate, kidney-cordate, entire, leathery, wintering. The flowers are bisexual, regular, single, on short drooping peduncles, placed between the leaves near the soil surface; corolla three-petaled, fused, bell-shaped, brownish outside, red-brown inside. The fruit is a box. Blooms in March – May.
Spread.European ungulate grows in broad-leaved and mixed forests throughout Ukraine, except Crimea. Procurement and storage. Rhizomes with roots (Rhizoma et radix Asari) and leaves (Folia Asari) are used to make medicines. The leaves are collected during the flowering of the plant, and the roots – in the fall. Dry raw materials in the shade or in a well-ventilated room. Store in a dry room separately from other raw materials (the plant is poisonous!). The shelf life is 1 year. Chemical composition. The roots of the plant contain essential oil (1%) and alkaloids (the presence of the latter is denied by some authors). The main constituents of the essential oil are azarone (30–50%), methyl eugenol (15–20%), 1-bornyl acetate (12–13%), tricyclic sesquiterpene С15Н24 (10–12%), sesquiterpene carbohydrate, sesquiterpene alcohol, diazarone, trans-isoazarone, trans-methylisoeugenol, azaronic aldehyde (2-3%), azaronic acid (the last two compounds give the same qualitative reaction as alkaloids). Horsetail leaves contain alkaloids, flavonoids (kaempferol, quercetin), steroid sitosterol, phenolic acids (caffeic, ferulic, p-coumaric).
Pharmacological properties and use. Most often, hooves is used as an emetic and expectorant. The root and fresh leaves of the plant have a particularly pronounced emetic effect (the mechanism of action is reflex). Dry leaves lose this ability and acquire laxative properties. The roots are more poisonous than the leaves and can cause vomiting even in dry form (at a dose of up to 5 g of powder per reception). In addition, the hoof improves heart activity, narrows arterial vessels, increases the tone of venous vessels and blood pressure, exhibits choleretic, diuretic, anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory and sedative effects, regulates the function of the stomach and menstruation. The inotropic effect of the plant has been proven experimentally. The use of ungulate is indicated and gives a good therapeutic effect in gastric ulcer, in liver and gall bladder diseases, in chronic skin diseases, especially in eczemas of nervous origin. Along with this, hoof is used for scanty and irregular menstruation, as an expectorant for bronchitis, against worms, for alcoholism, as a diuretic for dropsy. As an external remedy, the plant is used to heal wounds and treat scabies.
Medicinal forms and applications.
Internally– root infusion (2 g of raw material per 200 ml of boiling water) on a tablespoon 3 times a day as an expectorant; root tincture (20 g of raw material per 200 ml of alcohol) 15–25 drops 3–4 times a day as an expectorant; infusion of leaves (1 g of raw material per 200 ml of boiling water) on a tablespoon 3-4 times a day with reduced blood pressure; root decoction (4–5 g of raw material per 200 ml of water or milk) on a tablespoon every 2 hours as a diuretic and laxative; root decoction (2 g of raw material per 200 ml of boiling water, boil for 10 minutes, cool) 1 teaspoon 3 times a day before meals with scanty and irregular menstruation; root powder is taken on an empty stomach in 0.2–0.5 g with milk once a day for scanty and irregular menstruation (the dose is also effective for fever, worms, migraine and hysteria); a tablespoon of root decoction (5 g of raw material per 200 ml of boiling water) is imperceptibly mixed with 100 ml of vodka and given to a patient with alcoholism to drink (the mixture causes vomiting; the course of treatment is several days, until a persistent aversion to alcohol occurs); infusion of a tablespoon of a mixture (equally) of the leaves of the European ungulate and the flowers of the cypress in a glass of boiling water, drink 1 tablespoon 3–4 times a day with jaundice; a tablespoon of a mixture (equally) of the leaves of European hooves and common sedge and common nettle grass is infused for 10-15 minutes in a glass of boiling water, strained and drunk half a glass 4-5 times a day as an expectorant for bronchitis. infusion of a tablespoon of a mixture (equally) of the leaves of the European ungulate and the flowers of the cypress in a glass of boiling water, drink 1 tablespoon 3–4 times a day with jaundice; a tablespoon of a mixture (equally) of the leaves of European hooves and common sedge and common nettle grass is infused for 10-15 minutes in a glass of boiling water, strained and drunk half a glass 4-5 times a day as an expectorant for bronchitis. infusion of a tablespoon of a mixture (equally) of the leaves of the European ungulate and the flowers of the cypress in a glass of boiling water, drink 1 tablespoon 3–4 times a day with jaundice; a tablespoon of a mixture (equally) of the leaves of European hooves and common sedge and common nettle grass is infused for 10-15 minutes in a glass of boiling water, strained and drunk half a glass 4-5 times a day as an expectorant for bronchitis.
Externally – freshly crushed leaves are applied to the affected areas of the skin. It is contraindicated to use ungulate products for pregnant women and breast frogs!