Perennial or biennial bare bluish-gray plant of the umbrella family. The root is very long, low-fiber, knotty. The stem is 40-70 cm tall, strong, branched. The leaves are leathery, light green, prickly, basal – with petioles, upper – stem-wrapped. Inflorescences are globular heads with prickly trilobed bracts, bluish petals. The fruit is a flattened-spherical dicot, covered with almost prickly scales. Blooms in June – July.
Spread. It grows in the littoral zone of the Black and Azov seas on sandy and stony places.
Harvesting and storage – as in the articles Field Mykolaychiki and Flat Mykolaychiki.
The plant is unofficial .
Chemical composition. The roots contain saponins, sucrose, a small amount of tannins, traces of an alkaloid, about 0.1% of essential oil and malic, citric, malonic, oxalic, rosmarinic, glycolic and chlorogenic acids, up to 160 mg% of vitamin C. The aerial part has close to the roots chemical composition, but in other ratios. The seeds contain up to 0.6% essential oil with the smell of ambergris and musk.
Pharmacological properties and use . The roots (Herba et Radix Eryngii maritimi) have a diuretic and antispasmodic effect. It is used against whooping cough, with nephritis, dropsy, impotence, prostatitis, to increase appetite, and with inflammation of the middle ear. In folk medicine, the plant is considered a blood purifier and medicine for all kinds of stagnant phenomena in the body. Reduces milk secretion. It is considered a good remedy for lithiasis and for increasing the functions of the gonads. Used in homeopathy. The root was official in Great Britain. Young shoots are suitable for salads, and young leaves for marinades (stimulates appetite); you can also eat the roots – candied or boiled (as an admixture to salads). The herb is part of the galena product Niron (FRG).
Medicinal forms and applications. Internally – root decoction (25 g of roots per 0.5 l of water, boil for 10 minutes) drink 4 times a day before meals;
fresh juice from grass or roots is drunk 1 tablespoon per half glass of water with the addition of honey, 3 times a day.