Popular names: crail, pins, rake.
FOREST GERANIUM (Geranium silvaticum L.)Perennial herbaceous plant of the geranium family (Geraniaceae), up to 80 cm high, with a slanting rhizome. Stems erect, ribbed, covered with erect simple and glandular hairs, branched in the upper part. Basal leaves on petioles up to 30 cm long, deeply five- or seven-parted, middle – on smaller long petioles, five-parted, upper – often three-parted, sessile. All leaves on both sides are appressed-hairy. Inflorescence in the form of a many-flowered dichasia with dense, glandular pubescence. The flowers are quite large, purple or almost purple, placed 2 per pedicel. The fruit is shaped like a bird’s beak. Blooms from June to August, fruits ripen in August. It grows on sandy and loamy fresh soils in coniferous and mixed forests and among shrubs.
COLLECTION AND DRYING OF RAW MATERIALS
Medicinal raw material is the herb forest geranium. Harvesting is carried out during the flowering period of the plant. Dry the raw materials quickly in a shaded, well-ventilated room or a special dryer at a temperature of 35-40°C. The shelf life of raw materials is 2 years. Roots are harvested in the fall. Their shelf life is 3 years.
PHARMACOLOGICAL PROPERTIES
The plant has an astringent and hemostatic effect.
APPLICATIONS IN MEDICINE
Aboveground part. In folk medicine, decoction, infusion – astringent and hemostatic for bleeding, gastrointestinal diseases of various etiologies in adults and children: diarrhea, dysentery, enterocolitis; with kidney stone disease, rheumatism, gout, angina pectoris. Aerial part, roots. In folk medicine, tincture – for pain in the heart.
DOSAGE FORMS, METHOD OF APPLICATION AND DOSES
♦ Infusion of geranium herb: 1 teaspoon of raw materials is poured into 200 ml of boiling water, insisted, then filtered. Take 1 tablespoon every 2 hours.
APPLICATIONS IN OTHER FIELDS
The roots are suitable for tanning. Flowers give yellow and blue colors. Honey plant. Decorative.