Useful and medicinal properties of gentian cross-leaf

( cross-shaped)

Perennial herbaceous plant 20-70 cm high with a thick truncated brownish rhizome. Has several non-branching stems, straight or slightly raised, densely leafy with a radical rosette of leaves. Leaves in number 5-8 are obovate-lanceolate, reaching 3-8 cm in length;cauline leaves

nasty in the number of 4-10 pairs, sessile, ovate-lanceolate, paired in the vagina. Flowers almost sessile, twisted by bundles in the axils of the upper leaves and on the apex of the stems, form 4-6 thick whorls. Calyx tubular, thin-membranous, whitish;corolla quadrangular, 20-25 mm long, rudimentary, blue inside, gray-green outside;Between the blades of the corolla folding are four folds. Pestle with the upper single-strand ovary and with a two-part stigma. Stamens four, attached to the bottom of the corolla tube. Fruit - oblong, bivalve, multi-seed capsule;seeds are brown, shiny, mesh. Blossoms in June-August, the seeds ripen in September-October.

It grows in meadows, along fringes, forest glades, in the mountains, reaches the alpine meadows. It occurs in the middle belt of the European part of Russia, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus.

Medicinal raw materials are rhizomes with roots. Collect them in autumn, in October, thoroughly cleaned from the ground and dried( finely chopped) in dryers at a temperature of 50-60 degrees to prevent unavoidable fermentation( bare roots begin to blacken).

The rhizome and roots contain the alkaloid geneacin, the glycosides gentiopicrine and gancisin, the trisaccharide of the gene-actinose, colorants, essential and fatty oils.

Leaves contain ascorbic acid and bitter substances.

Gentian preparations are recommended for improving appetite in case of digestive disturbances, especially accompanied by achilia, improving the functional activity of the digestive organs, with constipation as choleretic. The root of this plant prevents suppuration, helps with pale infirmities( in girls) and gout.

In folk medicine, in addition, the gentian is prescribed as anthelmintic, as well as for the treatment of gout, arthritis, especially when dyspepsia is used, it is used in stomach ailments, constipation, lack of appetite, increased acidity of the stomach and heartburn( tincture on

orvodka).Decoction and tincture of the root drink with arthritis of rheumatic origin.

Outer gentian cross-leaf in the form of powder is used for purulent wounds( preferably in equal mixture with powder from the chemist's chamomile), in the form of hot broth - when sweating feet( 1 part gentian cross-linked in combination with 3 parts oak bark in 1 tablespoonfor a glass of boiling water).In still not cooled down broth soak the canvas( better homemade) and daily for the night they wrap their feet.

Application

Decoction: 1 teaspoon finely chopped root on a glass of boiling water, insist on fire for 7-10 minutes;use 1 glass 3 times a day.

Tincture on vodka or wine: 2 teaspoons( or 1 tablespoon) for a glass of wine or vodka, insist for 3 weeks;take one glass or 2 tablespoons.spoon 3 times a day before bedtime.

Powder from the root, crushed in flour, use 1-2 pinches 3 times a day, washed down with water.