Popular names: cicutus stork, needlewort, rake.
STORK [Erodium cicutarium (L.) L’Herit] An annual or biennial plant of the geranium family (Geraniaceae), with a thin, fibrous root, with prostrate or ascending stems, pubescent with stiff hairs, up to 50 cm in length. The leaves are bipinnately dissected, the basal leaves are collected in a rosette, dying off by the time the stems develop, the stem leaves are opposite. Flowers 3-8 in umbellate inflorescences, crimson or pink. Fruitlets – boxes, shaped like the head and beak of a stork, covered with hard hairs. The leaflets of fruits at full ripening are twisted spirally. Blossoms from April to September, fruits ripen in June – October. Distributed throughout the European part of the CIS, the Caucasus, Siberia and Central Asia. It grows in fields in crops, vegetable gardens, wastelands, forest clearings, garbage places.
COLLECTION AND DRYING OF RAW MATERIALS
For medicinal purposes, stork grass is used, which is harvested during the flowering period of the plant, cutting off the stem at the level of the basal leaf rosette. Dry it in the shade under awnings, in well-ventilated rooms or in dryers at a temperature of 45-50°C. The shelf life of raw materials is 2 years. You should not confuse Robert’s geranium (Geranium robertianum L.), similar in appearance to it, which has a strong unpleasant odor, larger stems and leaves and grows in damp and damp places.
PHARMACOLOGICAL PROPERTIES
Stork grass has astringent, hemostatic and anticonvulsant effects. Tincture of the aerial part, when administered orally, reduces the permeability of the walls of blood vessels.
APPLICATIONS IN MEDICINE
Aboveground part. Infusion – with all kinds of internal bleeding and convulsions. In folk medicine, a decoction is used for colds, pneumonia, pleurisy, bloating, angina pectoris, fright, gynecological diseases (uterine bleeding); in the form of baths – with diathesis in babies; tincture (in vodka) – for washing festering wounds. Aerial part, roots. In folk medicine, a decoction is used for angina pectoris, for fear, for gargling.
DOSAGE FORMS, METHOD OF APPLICATION AND DOSES
♦ Infusion of stork herb: 1 tablespoon of raw materials is poured into 300 ml of boiled water, left overnight, then filtered. The prepared infusion is stored in a cool place for no more than 2 days. Take 1/4 cup 4 times every day.
APPLICATIONS IN OTHER FIELDS
In folk veterinary medicine, wounds are sprinkled with powdered plant. It is considered good fodder for sheep. Honey plant.