Coronaria flos-cuculi (Coronaria flos-cuculi, synonym — Lychnis flos-cuculi); cuckoo flower; Carnation family (Caryophyllaceae); horytsvet cuckoo
The delicate, pink, whimsically cut inflorescences of the cuckoo flower are amazingly beautiful. Only the flowers are visible, and the stems and leaves are lost in the thick mass of grass.
Coronaria cuckoo is a herbaceous perennial 30-90 cm tall. The entire plant is covered with short, pressed hairs. The stem is erect. The leaves of the basal rosette are lanceolate, narrowed at the base, the upper ones are linear-lanceolate, sharp, slightly rough. The flowers are regular, six-petalled, collected in a thin pyramidal or shield-shaped panicle, usually pink, less often white. They bloom from the end of May to August, exactly when the cuckoos are in full bloom (hence the popular name). The fruit is a box. As a rule, the plant grows on wet and marshy meadows, among shrubs, along the banks of rivers and ponds. It is common in all regions of the middle zone of Russia, but it occurs less often in the southeast. In Ukraine, it grows throughout the territory in wet places.
For the preparation of medicinal products, the grass is collected during flowering. It is cut with a sickle or a knife and dried under cover in the shade or in the attic, spreading a thin
layer (3-5 cm) on paper or fabric. Previously, the extract of the cuckoo’s crown and the new galena product Floculen were used in scientific medicine, now the plant is used only by folk healers.
The raw material of the plant contains a saponin-like substance (up to 1%), a little-studied glycoside, traces of alkaloids. The leaves contain a considerable amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) (0.1%).
The coronary artery of the cuckoo shows hemostatic and antiseptic properties. It has been found, for example, that herbal infusions and fresh plant juice have a detrimental effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus vulgaris and Hay bacillus. Folk medicine uses coronary products for jaundice, pain in the kidney area, bronchitis (especially with a lot of sputum), uterine bleeding, painful menstruation, and also as a diaphoretic and antirheumatic agent. It is believed that herbal tea helps with infertility. Externally, infusions of cuckoo flowers are used for washing wounds, compresses for skin diseases, boils, ulcers and abscesses.
The honey productivity of coronaria is up to 45 kg from 1 hectare of thickets.
Herbal infusion. 2 tablespoons per 200 ml of boiling water. Heat in a water bath for 15 minutes, filter, wring out, bring to the original volume with warm boiled water. Take 1 tablespoon 3 times a day.
Herbal infusion (external). 40 g of raw material per 1 liter of boiling water. For washes and compresses.