An annual monoecious herbaceous plant with a mealy covering, rarely a bare plant of the quinoa family. The stem is erect, with opposite ascending branches, 30-90 cm high. The leaves are elongated rhombic, with a lanceolate base and ears directed forward, or lanceolate with a wedge-shaped base; the lower ones are opposite, drooping, the upper ones are alternate. The flowers are unisexual, rarely with an admixture of bisexual, small, inconspicuous, in dense spike-shaped inflorescences; stamens – with three-parted perianth, pistillate – without perianth. The fruit is a nut. Blooms in July – September.
Spread. Lytiga razloga occurs in littered places, less often – as a weed in gardens throughout the territory of Ukraine.
Raw material . Herbs collected during the flowering period of the plant are used to make medicines.
The plant is unofficial.
Chemical composition . The aerial part of the plant contains saponins, betaine (1.22%), ascorbic acid, carotene; seeds – phospholipids (0.4%).
Pharmacological properties and use . In folk medicine, the plant is used as a tonic, anti-inflammatory, expectorant and diuretic. An infusion of the herb is taken orally for dry cough, jaundice, hemorrhoids, and gout. In obstetrics and gynecology, an infusion of the herb is used for baldness, scanty menstruation, and childbirth to accelerate the passage of the placenta. A salad of fresh young leaves is recommended for hysteria, lung diseases, cessation of menstruation and as a vitamin remedy. Fresh crushed leaves are applied to wounds. Lutiga seeds were used as an emetic and laxative. Young shoots collected before flowering plants are used to enrich soups and prepare salads. Shoots are left to ferment.
Medicinal forms and applications . Internally – herbal infusion (20 g of raw material per 200 ml of boiling water) 1 tablespoon 3 times a day as an expectorant and tonic;
salad: leaves of sorrel and sorrel are dipped in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, chopped, put on pieces of cooled boiled potatoes, salted, seasoned with oil, horseradish, vinegar and decorated with pieces of boiled egg (75 g of potatoes are taken for 150 g of young leaves of sorrel , 30 g of sorrel, 30 g of grated horseradish, 10 g of oil, 1 egg, salt and vinegar).