An annual bare plant. The stem is branched, slightly curly, up to 2 m long, in a low variety – up to 30 cm. The leaves are alternate, with long petioles and thyroid plates. The flowers are irregular in shape, orange in color, with blood-red stripes; calyx painted reddish, five-parted, with a spur at the base, with five petals. The fruit is divided into three one-seeded carpels, which are somewhat fleshy and wrinkled within the carpel.
Unripe nasturtium fruits have a spicy taste, reminiscent of the taste of capers (flower buds from the caper bush), used as a seasoning for food fresh and pickled.
For medicinal purposes, flowers, leaves and fruits are used. In addition to taste value, unripe nasturtium fruits have antiscorbutic properties and, like the leaves, contain a lot of vitamin C (ascorbic acid).
Among the people, grass and flowers (decoction or juice from them) are often used for scurvy mixed with similar herbs and for stones in the bladder. Nasturtium flowers in a decoction with honey are useful for rinsing the mouth with a childhood disease – thrush.
Application
Simple decoction: 20 g per 200 ml; 2-3 tbsp. spoons 3 times every day.
Complex decoction (for scurvy): nasturtium juice mixed with sorrel, trifol and dandelion juice equally, 200 ml of the mixture per 200 g of whey for boiling; 2-6 tbsp. spoons 1-3 times every day.
An infusion of the herb is taken for anemia, kidney stone disease, skin rashes.