Arnica mountain
Arnica montana.
Protected plant! It grows in meadows, glades, on the fringes of forests, as well as in subalpine mountain meadows.
Description: perennial shrub 30-60 cm high. Rhizomes are reddish-brown in color, from the underside of which numerous thin roots extend. Basal leaves
6-8, they are oblong, dark green, form a rosette. The cauline leaves are lanceolate, small, opposite. The marginal flowers in the basket are reed, barren, bright yellow, middle - tubular, bisexual, yellow. Fruits are dark gray achenes with a length of about 7 mm, and are equipped with volatile.
Blossoms in June-July, fruits ripen in August-September.
Ingredients: flower baskets contain traces of essential oil, which includes azu-linen, sesquiterpenes and a mixture of two triterpendi-odes. Choline, betaine, resins, carotenoids, coffee and chlorogenic acids and other substances are found in the flowers. Rhizome contains essential oil, resin, wax, gum and bitter substances.
Cultivation: sunny areas, moist soils, from calcareous to neutral. In the dry period, irrigation and the introduction of liquid, fertilizer-free fertilizers are required. Seeding in the spring of next year by young seeds in rows at a distance of 30 cm. Can also multiply by self-seeding.
Collection: baskets are harvested at the beginning of flowering - in June-July, cutting off manually in dry weather after a drop in dew. Roots are digging in autumn, in September, after the plants are seeded. The collected raw materials are dried in the shade, spreading on a clean litter a thin layer.
Medicinal properties: anti-inflammatory, choleretic, hemostatic and antirheumatic action. For external use it is used as an ointment for stretching, bleeding, to accelerate the healing of wounds. In medicine, alcoholic tincture from dried flower baskets is also used as a choleretic and blood-thirsting agent. Especially effective tincture arnica with internal bleeding. Arnica promotes resorption of hemorrhages. Allergic reactions are possible with an increased sensitivity of the body to the drug, manifested in skin rashes, itching and burning.
Application: arnica has a beneficial effect on the healing process with
skin lesions, is used to create a range of cosmetic products.