Parts used: flowering shoots (without roots).
Pharmacy name: Veronica herb – Veronicae herba (formerly: Heiba Veronicae).
Botanical description. Veronica’s stems are creeping, within 30 cm in length, in places they take root and form rising stiff-haired shoots. Grayish-green leaves on short petioles are opposite. They are obovate or elliptical, softly pubescent, with a serrated edge. From the axils of the leaves emerge long brushes of light blue flowers with dark veins on the petals. Blooms in May-June. This plant is quite traditional, found on wastelands, forest clearings, in light dry forests and on the edges.
Collection and preparation. Collect flowering shoots without roots and lying stems. Dry in the shade. Make sure the plants are completely dry before you start chopping them up.
Active ingredients: tannins, bitterness, flavonoids, a little essential oil and aukubin iridoid.
Healing action and application. Veronica is part of various medicinal teas used for diseases of the upper respiratory tract and lungs, liver, and skin. True, in later times, doubts about the healing effect of this plant are increasingly expressed. Sebastian Kneipp recommended Veronica as a good remedy for consumption and rheumatism, gout and inflammation of the bladder. Other authors (for example, X. Schultz and A. Dinand) praise the action of Veronica in skin itching in the elderly, indigestion and lack of appetite. But R.F. Weiss, one of the best herbalists of our time, considers it ineffective. Knowing the chemical composition of the plant, one must think that this sentence is too strict. I would say differently: for these diseases we will find the best remedies in the plant world.
Application in folk medicine. Not often recommended as a remedy for all diseases. Veronica tea is used for coughs and colds, as a gargle for inflammation of the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat, in the absence of appetite, for diseases of the liver and kidneys, rheumatism and gout, for diseases of the stomach and diarrhea. It is difficult to say how great the success of the treatment is.
- Veronica tea: 2 teaspoons topped with herbs, pour 1/4 liter of boiling water, leave for 10 minutes, strain and drink in small sips of moderately warm 3 times a day for a cup.
Side effects are unknown.