Description:
Stems erect, simple or branched, tetrahedral. Leaves are opposite, sessile, semi-amplex, lanceolate, up to 6 cm long and 1.5 cm wide, sharp, serrated in the upper part, with three arcuate veins, rarely glandular-pointed. Flowers are borne singly in leaf axils. Pedicels long, with two longish bracts at the base of the calyx. The calyx is five-lobed, 2-3 times shorter than the corolla. Corolla up to 2 cm long, with a yellowish tube and almost two-lipped limb, white with purple veins. Stamens four: two short and two long. Style one, much longer than stamens. At the base of the column is a nectar disk. It blooms all summer, from June to September, the fruits ripen from July. The fruit is an ovoid, sharp multi-seeded capsule, equal in length to the sepals. Grows in damp meadows, swamps,
Active substances:
Essential oil, bitterness, tannins, saponins and, above all, glycosides (one of them – cardiac glycoside gratiotoxin – has an effect similar to foxglove). The poisonousness of the avran is due not only to the fact that until now it was believed that it contains cardiac glycosides, but also to the fact that it contains the cucurbitacin glycoside elatericide.
Medicinal use:
Previously highly valued, now avran is almost unknown to either folk or scientific medicine, since there are now more effective remedies for constipation, dropsy, ailments of the liver and biliary tract, and ulcers on the lower leg; for action on the heart we have foxglove purpurea and other species of Digitalis. However, there is one area of application for which this medicinal plant is very suitable: R. F. Weiss recommends this plant for the stimulation of menstruation, since their irregularity is not always worth correcting with hormones. Of course, this is only possible under the supervision of a doctor, since self-medication with poisonous plants is prohibited: it is dangerous!
Use in homeopathy:
Homeopathic remedy Gratiola is used for disorders of the stomach, intestines and liver. Other uses (for headaches, irritability, shortened menstrual cycles, skin rashes and rheumatism) are not essential. Use dilutions from D3 to D12, give 3-5 (up to 10) times every day, 3-8 drops.
Attention: side effects:
Avran is poisonous and therefore cannot be used on its own. Signs of poisoning: increased salivation, nausea, vomiting, colic, diarrhea, kidney damage, convulsions, cardiac dysfunction, collapse, respiratory arrest.
First aid measures:
Contact a doctor or hospital. Urgently induce vomiting, take activated charcoal.