How does the celandine look and where does it grow?

Perhaps, another plant, whose name so accurately characterizes its medicinal properties, is difficult to find in our country. His amazing ability to cleanse the skin of people noticed in ancient times. Thanks to her, the plant got its name.

What else is called celandine?

Using celandine, you can easily get rid of calluses, including chronic, acne, various skin rashes, fungus and even herpes. But the celibacy was especially famous for its ability to excrete warts very quickly and very quickly, for which he was given another name - a warty, and called a golden herb for its bright yellow juice.

True, not all of the numerous names of this plant are so flattering. Along with them, the celandine is known as the witch grass or fruity milk. And I must say that not for nothing. Possessing a powerful cleansing effect, the juice of this plant causes severe poisoning due to the content of poisonous components in it. Therefore, celandine should be used with caution.

But first you need to find out what the celandine looks like and where it grows. This is also important because the plant is widespread even in urban conditions. Adult people, especially children, who do not know what a celandine looks like, can be poisoned by it.

Why does a plant have such a name?

The generic name of this culture is Chelidónium. It comes from the Greek word celadon, which translates as "swallow". It would seem, what is the relationship between a plant and a cute bird? According to one version, the celandine was named so because it blossoms when the swallows fly. According to another, which is confirmed by many written sources, the ancient Greek physicians used a plant for the treatment of eye diseases, because, according to legend, the swallow with yellow juice healed blind nestlings.

How does the plant look clean?

This is a perennial shrub of the family of Poppies up to 1.2 m in height, although the average height varies from thirty to one hundred centimeters. The stalk of celandine is branchy, hollow and ribbed, covered with sparse hairs.

Leaves

They are soft, from above painted in a saturated green color, and from below bluish. The upper leaves resemble the lyre in form, and the lower leaves are cirrus. Different forms of leaves can depend on the place of growth of the bush. For example, in the western regions of our country they are pointed, and in Siberia - elongated. Once it was believed that these are different species of a single plant, but today the Siberian variety is called a celandine of great modification. How does the celandine look big? Photos of this plant are presented in the article.

Purity is great - a very tenacious culture due to the developed rhizome. It is vertical, short, but gradually penetrating into the ground, passes into a long branched root. The older the plant, the more roots it has. It is very difficult to fight this grass.

Flowers

Do you know what the plant looks like? But you have seen it many times, even in the city. Yellow, consisting of four petals egg-shaped florets very cute. They have one pestle and several stamens. Two sepals, painted in yellow-green tones, make up a cup. They gather in slightly loose umbrellas, 3-7 flowers each. Flowering celandine begins in May and lasts until September. The plant wilts at the end of the so-called Indian summer.

Fruit

We figured out what the flower of a celandine looks like, it's time to find out what the fruits are remarkable for. These are pods, which, opening out, are divided into two leaves. When they do, you can hear pretty loud claps. You can easily determine the beginning of this period, drawing attention to what the celandine grass looks like. Photos of fruit bearing shrubs often place editions for herbalists. The grass at this time loses brightness, coarsens.

The plant fructifies several times a season. As soon as the bush sheds seeds, bright fresh leaves appear on it.

Roots

Their thickness can be compared with a person's finger. This is the most dangerous part of the plant. Although in some publications it is possible to meet recommendations to use them in treatment - do not do it yourself, without consulting a specialist. The roots contain 20 times more alkaloids - poisonous substances than in leaves and stems (about 40%).

Juice

Everyone who has seen what the celandine looks like (photo we've posted in this article) know that the plant produces a thick yellow-colored juice, darker than flowers, and this helps not to confuse it with other plants. The juice has a specific smell and a very bitter taste. Dried grass loses this color. This can be explained by the instability of the coloring matter. However, it can be used as a dye for fabric, for example, wool.

History of celandine application

Ancient Greek Theophrastus, who lived in the III-IV centuries. BC. E., left a record on the use of celandine for the treatment of liver tumors, constipation and jaundice. Sorcerers and sorcerers believe that in addition to the healing effect, this plant belonging to the elements of fire removes the dark forces rising from under the ground and helps a person to get out of prison or release an innocent from imprisonment.

Fresh celandine, which a person constantly wears on the body, changing the twig every three days, according to esotericists, relieves depression. The ancients believed that the celibate can make peace, and a person who constantly wears a bag of dried celandine on the body will live in harmony with all.

At the end of the 16th century, celandine was grown on plots, not only as a medicinal product, but also as an ornamental plant. Can you imagine what looks like a celandine grown in captivity? Usually this is a more impressive plant than its wild relative, and the medicinal properties they do not differ.

Use of celandine in different countries

Pharmacists of many countries make preparations based on celandine, which are intended to treat many serious ailments. But they must be applied under the strict supervision of a doctor. In different countries, where this plant grows, certain views on the treatment with celandine have been formed.

In Bulgaria, its juice is used as an antispasmodic and analgesic for diseases of the liver, gall bladder, jaundice, colitis and gastritis.

In Poland it is an analgesic, antihelminthic and anti-inflammatory agent. Polish doctors prescribe drugs based on celandine and its juice for diseases of the digestive tract, hepatic colic, hemorrhoids.

Austrian scientists came to the conclusion that the extract from this plant activates the activity of the bile duct and gall bladder, has powerful soothing and anticonvulsant properties.

In France, celandine is most often used as a laxative and diuretic, and the juice of young plants is used as a stimulant.

In our country is actively used to treat lupus, tuberculosis skin ointment, prepared from powdered herbs celandine. In pharmacies, you can buy ready-made products based on the juice of this plant. They have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects. For example, "Bee Cleaner", according to customers, helps to reduce the severity of rashes, reduce the intensity of inflammation and redness of pimples.

Cream, cooked at home, is used to treat more severe skin pathologies. It contains more active substances, so it should not be used for cosmetic purposes. Tincture from the roots with strict adherence to dosage helps with dysbacteriosis, cholelithiasis and constipation. Intravenous administration of preparations based on celandine shows hypertensive patients for lowering blood pressure, normalizing the pulse, and when external, they quickly heal ulcers and scars on the skin, treat psoriasis and eczema.

Chemical composition

The composition of celandine includes biologically active substances. Among them:

• Flavonoids;
• Alkaloids;
• Saponins;
• tannins;
• Resins;
• Organic citric acid;
• Bitterness;
• Organic apple and succinic acids;
• Vitamin A;
• essential oils;
• ascorbic acid.

Spread

You already know what the cleanliness looks like, now we'll tell you where it can be found. The plant is widespread throughout Europe. A small number of plants can be found in Central Asia and in the foothill-steppe zones. The celandine prefers soils that contain a large volume of humus. It settles on shaded areas, in broad-leaved, mixed coniferous-small-leaved, spruce, fir forests.

In the steppes, most often, celandine can be found along natural water bodies. Grows in small groups and small curtains. Purity is easiest to find near anthills: insects demolish seeds to them. It is so unpretentious that it can be found both in the swamps and in the road. It grows on abandoned quarries, in fields, along river banks. The only climatic zone where the celandine does not grow is the Far North.

Herbalists, who are well aware of the benefits of this plant, prefer to grow it themselves. To do this, they collect the seeds and in February they sow in a greenhouse. With the arrival of stable heat, the shoots are transferred to the open ground on moistened soil, in a slightly shaded crown of a tree or shrub. Purity is quickly established, but it is necessary to control its spread, as it can be aggressive towards cultivated plants.

Collection and procurement of raw materials

Usually, the healing properties of celandine are associated with its upper herbaceous part, but it is also proved that the content of active substances in the root is much higher. Therefore, you can harvest both the underground and herbaceous part of the plant. But we must not forget that one must be very cautious with roots.

Grass

Prepared when the plant is actively blooming, usually in late May or early June. The stem is cut at a height of five centimeters from the soil. Dry the grass in well ventilated attics or under a canopy. Raw materials are laid out in a thin layer and regularly, quite often shaken. Electric driers can also be used with a temperature setting of about 60 ° C.

Rhizome

For convenience, prepare together with the grass. Dig up a portion of the root that will be available. To dry the root should not be, it is used in fresh form to produce juice, which is more than in the stem.

When preparing raw celandine, care must be taken. Wear gloves to avoid touching the roots and stems with your bare hands. Juice can cause itching and irritation of healthy skin. It is necessary to use a protective mask and glasses: evaporation of the juice causes irritation, quite often there can be a burn of the larynx.