Perennial herbaceous whitish-hairy plant with a pleasant smell of the aster family (complex flowers). Stems are erect or erect, simple or branched in the upper part, 50-120 cm high. The leaves are leathery, whole, elongated-elliptic, blunt, notched-toothed on the edge; the lower and middle ones are petiolate, the upper ones are sessile. The flowers are tubular, yellow, in small (up to 7 mm in diameter) baskets that form a thin shield. Sometimes there is also the formation of reed flowers, they are white in color. The fruit is an achene. Blooms in August-September.
Spread. Comes from Southern Europe. It is grown as a vegetable plant on the territory of Ukraine; sometimes goes wild.
Procurement and storage . Maroon grass is used for medicinal purposes, which is cut during the flowering of the plant at a height of 12-15 cm from the soil surface and dried under shelter in the open air. Store in tightly closed cans or cans.
The plant is unofficial .
Chemical composition . Maruna grass contains up to 0.4% essential oil, the main components of which are paraffin and various ketones.
Pharmacological properties and use . Infusion of maruna grass is used as a sedative, antispasmodic (for painful menstruation), anticonvulsant, carminative, disinfectant, anthelmintic, and as a means that stimulates the secretion of gastric juice. At one time, the outstanding naturalist K. Linnaeus considered maroon to be a radical remedy that neutralizes the narcotic effect of opium. Externally, as an antiseptic, the infusion of horsetail grass is used for compresses for traumatic skin injuries. The plant is used as an insecticide to kill insects and household parasites. Maroon is also used as a seasoning for dishes, for flavoring food products, in pickles and vegetable preserves.
Medicinal forms and applications. Internally – herbal infusion (6-10 g of raw material per 200 ml of boiling water) 150 ml four times a day.
Externally – herbal infusion of double strength (20 g of raw material per 200 ml of boiling water) for compresses.