Snakehead

Dracocephalum moldavica

Valuable honey is also known as "Turkish Melissa".In the wild it occurs in Siberia, Europe, Central Asia and China.

Description: an annual plant that has a green, red-violet tinge erect stalk to 70-120 cm in height. Leaves lanceolate, dark green, petiolate with serrate margin. Pale purple flowers form loose, racemose apical inflorescences.

Flowering and, accordingly, ripening of seeds are stretched and begin with the lower flowers of the inflorescence in July-August.

Seeds are small, oblong-oval, ribbed, dark brown, almost black to 3 mm in length and 1.5-1.8 mm in diameter.

Ingredients: contains essential oil, citrol, geraniol, linalool and other components.

Cultivation: prefers sunny areas, humus, nutrient soils, sufficient water, but without overmoistening. To obtain a good crop, fertilization with compost or herbaceous humus is recommended. Sowing is carried out in the spring in a row. It is possible to grow in tubs.

Collection: blossoming or semi-diluted grass is harvested in June. Dried and stored in a glass container, like lemon balm.

Medicinal properties: in folk medicine, the infusion of a snake-head is used to excite appetite, with rapid heartbeat, neuralgia, colds, as a rinse with toothache. Purely washed fresh crushed leaves are applied to accelerate the healing of pustular wounds.

Application: tea is an excellent remedy for strengthening the nervous system, with disorders of the stomach and intestines that have arisen on nerves, with headaches and insomnia, to regulate the digestive process, as an additive for baths that relieve tension. Essential oil is used in the perfume and cosmetics industry.

Leaves and flowers in fresh and dried form are used in cooking as a spice for flavoring salads, first and second dishes, when preserving tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables. The snakehead can enter into a spicy mixture, replacing the black and fragrant pepper.