The Use Of Coltsfoot In Traditional Medicine

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Cool as a stepmother, heals like a mother

Features of culture

After the white-gray monotony of winter, the human gaze greedily catches all possible signs of the approaching spring. Usually, we are happy to note the emerging flowers-earrings of a willow or pussy willow. This usually happens even when the snow has not melted - in March-April.

But soon, in April or early May, depending on the weather conditions, we notice bright yellow dots on the south side of the house or slope in the vacant lot. Every day there are more and more of them. This bloomed mother and stepmother. And now you can see a bee or a bumblebee on the flowers. The early flowering plant, following the alder, gives nectar and pollen to these beneficial insects.

Gardener's guide

Plant nurseries Stores of goods for summer cottages Landscape design studios

Mother-and-stepmother is rather unusual: first, her juicy dense flower stalks with a bud at the end emerge from the ground, which are covered with small elongated leaves like scales. The bud opens and a bright yellow flower looks out, from a distance a little resembling a dandelion, but if you look closely, it is complex - it has ligulate (female) flowers at the edges, and in the center - bisexual tubular flowers. Then, during the ripening period, this complex flower turns into a fluffy ball, similar to a dandelion. And he also has seeds attached to fluffy hairs that are carried by the wind around the area.

When the mother-and-stepmother begins to bloom, new shoots are put forward, on which large rounded-pith leaves open. It was they who gave the Russian name to this plant. The fact is that both sides of the leaves are very different. The underside is silvery white and covered with fluffy felt. When you touch it, it is soft and warm to the touch - hence the popular name - mother. And the upper side is smooth green, shiny, easily evaporating moisture, and therefore cool - a stepmother. Hence the name among the people: mother-and-stepmother (heat and cold). In addition, in various localities it is also called mother grass, double-leafed, frozen burdock.

Notice board

Kittens for sale Puppies for sale Horses for sale

Medicinal properties of mother and stepmother

The common mother-and-stepmother (Tussilago farfara) is a perennial herb of the Astrov family. It has long been valued among the people: both for its first spring modest beauty, and for its medicinal properties. Even we, village boys, knew about some of its medicinal properties and about where to find mother and stepmother. Therefore, having scratched or injured an arm or leg, or received a burn, they looked for its fluffy-cool leaves and applied them with the soft side to the wound. They also helped in the treatment of purulent wounds and tumors, for example, boils.

But the healing possibilities of this early flowering plant are much wider. Mother-and-stepmother in Latin sounds like Tussilago - these are two words that translate into Russian as "exorcising cough." And, of course, this plant is popularly used to treat coughs. Substances that are contained in mother and stepmother have numerous beneficial properties: thinning, enveloping, softening, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, expectorant and diaphoretic.

Therefore, in folk and traditional medicine, fresh and dried leaves are used to treat various diseases. To have these medicinal preparations always at hand, the leaves of coltsfoot are collected in spring and summer, dried in a ventilated room or in dryers at a temperature not exceeding 50 ° C.

In scientific or official medicine, the leaves and flowers of coltsfoot are recognized as an effective expectorant, the infusion of coltsfoot leaves is used as an emollient, for periodontal disease, gingivitis, sore throat, pleurisy, pneumonia, gastritis, enterocolitis. Mother and stepmother is part of breast herbal preparations, which can be purchased at pharmacies. Other fees are used for inflammation of the stomach, intestines, bladder and kidney diseases.

In folk medicine, the use of leaves and flowers is much broader. As noted above, coltsfoot, or rather, its leaves are used fresh (applied to wounds, squeezed out the juice and taken for tuberculosis). Traditional healers advise adding young leaves of this plant to vegetable salads.

They can help strengthen the immune system weakened by the long winter or colds. In spring or June, when the leaves are gaining full strength - they are bright green (above), juicy - they are harvested. They choose young, not damaged by rust leaves. They are cut off to the middle of the petiole, and then dried under a canopy. Dry leaves are green, bitter in taste. They can then be used at any time of the year in the form of decoctions, infusions, herbal preparations and teas.

Collected in spring, in sunny weather, during flowering and flowers of the coltsfoot. They are dried and stored separately, and then included in the medicinal mixture along with the leaves, for example, to prepare an infusion for a lingering cough. To do this, pour a tablespoon of such a mixture with a glass of boiling water and insist for half an hour. Then filter this infusion warm and take a quarter of a glass three times a day.

From the flowers of the mother-and-stepmother in folk medicine, a healing tincture is prepared. To do this, a tablespoon of plant flowers is poured into a jar with a screw cap, for example, from under mustard and poured with vodka - it should close the leaves. Close tightly and leave for 2-3 weeks in a dark place. Then they are used for gastrointestinal colic - thirty drops half an hour before meals three times a day..

Broths of the leaves are used in the treatment of bronchitis and bronchial asthma, tuberculosis, used to gargle with tonsillitis and stomatitis. Also, this broth helps with diseases of the genitourinary system and inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract. One of the ways to prepare the infusion is as follows: pour three tablespoons of chopped leaves with two glasses of water and boil until the liquid evaporates by half. The resulting broth is filtered and taken every three hours, 1 tablespoon.

In the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and genitourinary system, a weaker decoction is used: take one and a half tablespoons of dry leaves, pour in a liter of water, boil for 3 minutes, cool, filter and drink 300 ml per day during the day before meals.

For hemorrhoids and rectal cracks, a decoction of coltsfoot leaves is also used: 2 tablespoons of dry leaves are added to 1 liter of water and brought to a boil. After that, the broth is infused for about an hour and cooled. Used daily for enemas or douching, baths - warm at night.

To solve these problems, baths, douching or enemas are used. The broth is prepared at the rate of 2 tablespoons of herbs per 1 liter of water, after boiling, it is insisted for 45 minutes, then cooled - the product must be warm, the procedures are carried out every day at night.

Infusion of leaves - 1 tablespoon per glass of boiling water, leave for half an hour - in the morning and in the evening it is recommended to rinse your mouth with bleeding gums.

Tea from mother-and-stepmother is drunk for coughs and as an expectorant. To do this, pour 1 teaspoon of flowers or a mixture of flowers and leaves with a glass of boiling water and let it brew for 10-15 minutes.

The juice of coltsfoot is used in folk medicine for a cold: 2-3 drops of this juice are instilled into each nostril. It is also used to treat bronchial diseases and asthma - 2-3 teaspoons per glass of warm milk. The juice is obtained from fresh juicy leaves, not old, without stains and damage. They are washed, poured over with boiling water, dried and passed through a meat grinder, after which the resulting pulp is squeezed.

The mother-and-stepmother also has contraindications. Her preparations are not recommended for pregnant and lactating women and children under 12 years of age. Long-term use of this plant is also undesirable: pressure may increase. In general, it will not be superfluous if you consult a doctor before using drugs according to folk recipes.

E. Valentinov