home Endocrinology Celandine is an annual or perennial plant. Healing properties of greater celandine: recommendations for use. Celandine herb application

Celandine is an annual or perennial plant. Healing properties of greater celandine: recommendations for use. Celandine herb application

Celandine is an unpretentious herbaceous plant that can be found in almost all European countries. The beneficial properties of the plant are widely used in folk medicine, especially in the treatment of various dermatological problems. How to properly harvest celandine - a photo of the plant will help you understand which flowers should be collected.

General description of celandine

Celandine grass is a weed from the poppy family; you can see it almost everywhere. Where does celandine grow? The plant can be found in almost every European country, America, and is widespread in Russia and Ukraine.

What does it look like? The plant has a straight stem and reaches 1 m in length. If the stem is broken, a bright yellow milky sap will appear. The leaves have a bluish tint at the bottom and green on top.

You can recognize celandine by its golden-yellow flowers, which have the correct umbrella shape. The plant blooms from May to August; during this period it must be collected and dried in order to be used for medicinal purposes.

Photo

Medicinal properties and contraindications

Greater celandine is often used to eliminate various skin rashes and neoplasms. But this plant can also help treat other diseases.

Beneficial features:

reduces discomfort from heartburn, effectively eliminates cholecystitis, hepatitis, ulcerative processes and other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
celandine has anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties - it is used for early stages tuberculosis, pneumonia, polyps in the large intestine;
effectively fights colds, respiratory diseases, improves sputum separation;
the plant has a diuretic effect, helps with gout and kidney pathologies;
It is recommended to use celandine internally when diabetes mellitus, problems with the thyroid gland.

Important! Celandine has antitumor properties - doctors recommend using it on initial stages oncological diseases to prevent growth cancer cells. The plant can be used to prevent cancer.

Celandine has many contraindications - it should not be used by pregnant and lactating women, or children under 12 years of age. Angina pectoris, epilepsy, chronic constipation– for all these diseases, celandine cannot be used. For bronchial asthma, the recommended dosages help to improve the condition; in case of an overdose, standing can become significantly worse.

Use in folk medicine

IN alternative medicine They use celandine juice, prepare decoctions, infusions and tinctures from the plant, make oil and healing ointments.

An infusion of celandine is prepared from 3 g of raw materials and 250 ml of boiling water, strain after 20 minutes. Use 30–40 ml three times a day to normalize the functioning of the liver and gastrointestinal tract.

Alcohol tincture is used to eliminate pain in the liver and stomach, it cleanses well genitourinary system, strengthens protective functions, improves appetite. The tincture is recommended for use in the initial stages of cancer to get rid of polyps.

How to prepare the tincture:

Pour 20 g of chopped herbs into a glass container, pour in 200 ml of vodka, leave for 14 days, filter thoroughly. Take 10 drops three times a day, first dilute in 110 ml of water.
Mix celandine juice and vodka in equal proportions, pour into a glass container, and put in a cool room for 2 weeks. Dilute 15 drops of medicine in 120 ml of water, take before breakfast.

Celandine ointment helps with eczema, diathesis, and skin cancer. In cosmetology, it is used to remove freckles and age spots.

Mix 15 ml with 60 g of Vaseline fresh juice celandine or 6 g of dry crushed grass. Use the prepared ointment 3–5 times a day.

The milky juice of celandine effectively helps against warts and papillomas - just pick the plant and carefully cauterize the formation on the skin.

The juice can be used to burn acne, prepare a solution for gargling and oral cavity, bury nose drops, use for enemas for polyps. Douching with celandine juice helps with prostatitis and female diseases.

Important! Juice should not be taken internally pure form.

Juice treatment is recommended to be carried out according to the royal method - the ladder method. Dilute 1 drop of juice in 75 ml of water and drink. Every day you need to increase the dose by 2 drops, increase the amount to 20 drops, and take a break for 10 days. Then start counting at reverse side, reducing daily dose for 1 drop. Duration of therapy is 3 months. For prevention, 1 course per year is sufficient.

How to use the juice:

for gargling, when dental problems– dissolve 5 ml of juice in 120 ml, carry out the procedure three times a day;
for the treatment of sinusitis, influenza, nasal polyps - add 20 drops of juice to 50 ml of water, instill 2 drops of medicine into each nasal passage;
for douching – dissolve 7 drops of juice in 55 ml of warm water.

Celandine juice helps with psoriasis - you need to rub it continuously for 25 minutes into the affected areas, take a break for 5 minutes. Repeat the procedure 5 times.

Effectively helps against papillomas balm Mountain celandine, the photo will help you purchase natural, high-quality products, not fakes. In addition to celandine, its composition includes an extract from string, gentian, crow's feet and rhododendron. To get rid of tumors, you need to apply 1 drop of the product to the papilloma once a day. Duration of therapy is 5–7 days.

Important! The drug Super Celandine does not contain extracts from the plant - it contains only potassium and sodium alkali. The product can quickly get rid of warts, but scars may remain.

Essential and cosmetic oil Celandine helps solve many dermatological, dental and gynecological problems. It can be used by mothers to eliminate rashes and peeling on the skin of young children. It is also used in cosmetology - the oil helps get rid of age spots, acne, small scars, peeling, dandruff and seborrhea.

The oil is used in its pure form, or a few drops are added to products for daily care for the skin.

Important! With regular use of celandine oil, the elasticity of the skin significantly increases and the process of formation of new wrinkles slows down.

How to make your own butter:

Fill a glass jar with 500 g of fresh herbs, squeeze a little until the juice appears.
Pour 130–150 ml of sunflower or olive oil.
Place in a dark room for 14 days, stir once every 2 days.
Filter and pour into a dark glass container.

Oil can be stored longer than juice, it does not cause burns, has less side effects. It should be applied externally to the skin for 10–15 minutes, repeating the procedure 4 times a day.

For fibroids or erosion, you need to soak a tampon in oil, insert it into the vagina for a quarter of an hour, repeat the procedure twice a day.

Essential oil can help eliminate fungal diseases nails, psoriasis, microbial eczema. It is enough to apply a cotton pad soaked in oil to the problem area three times a day for 2-3 minutes - the skin will stop itching, inflammation will go away, and the process of tissue restoration will accelerate.

Precautionary measures

Celandine is not only a medicinal plant, but also a very poisonous plant. During the procurement of raw materials, self-medication, or walking in the forest, it is easy to get burned by celandine. The injury is not very dangerous, but timely first aid will help avoid the development of various complications.

How to treat a burn from celandine:

Rinse the injured area under running water; you can use baking soda or soap on the skin.
To reduce inflammation and irritation, wipe the skin with an ice cube.
Severe itching can be eliminated with the help of hormonal creams and ointments - Sinaflan. To dry the wound, you need to make a compress with Zinc ointment.
After a burn, the damaged area should be protected from direct sunlight for 3–5 days.

Important! If the juice poisonous plant got into your eyes, you should definitely consult a doctor. Juice may cause severe swelling eyes, conjunctivitis, temporary or permanent blindness.

You can wipe the burned area with aloe or pumpkin juice, strong cold black tea, and apply chopped raw potatoes.

Celandine effectively helps get rid of warts and other serious dermatological problems. But you should always remember - this plant is poisonous; it is better to use gloves during collection and treatment. The juice of the plant should not get on the mucous membranes, so you should not chew the leaves or use the juice to wash your eyes or nose in its pure form.

Greater celandine (Chelidonium majus) is a perennial herbaceous plant that has gained popularity among people as a medicinal plant with a very wide range of uses. Due to the high concentration of alkaloids and other potent substances in the plant chemical substances, the Greater Celandine plant is very popular both among traditional healers and in pharmacology, and is considered one of the most famous plants with numerous medicinal properties. Many beneficial properties of Celandine can be used in everyday life. For example, crushed dry celandine powder is sprinkled on cultivated plants to protect against pests and microspore diseases. In villages, celandine juice is still used as a natural dye for wool and homespun canvas. Celandine oil, squeezed from seeds, has anti-corrosion properties.

What is another popular name for the celandine plant?

The Latin name – (Chelidonium majus) translates as “swallow grass”. In the European part of the continent, celandine blooms with the arrival of the first swallows - in early May, and ends flowering with their departure at the end of August. Alchemists were attracted by the milky juice of celandine, which, when in contact with air, acquired a shade of red gold. This forced them to conduct numerous experiments to search for traces in the plant. precious metal, and the plant was called “golden grass.” In the traditions of Russian folk medicine, Greater Celandine was considered the first remedy for removing warts, papillomas, and condylomas. This is where such popular names as “warthog” and “warthog” came from.

Here are some other plant names:

"gladushnik", " clean grass", "chistoplot" or "chistushnik" - young girls prepared an ointment from celandine for the face and used it to reduce freckles, age spots, acne and other skin rashes;
“jaundice” - for taking celandine in the treatment of jaundice;
“yellow milkweed”, “yellow milkweed”, “red milkweed” - for the carotene-rich milky juice of a bright orange color;
“podtynnik” - for the custom of growing near fences and hedges;
“devil's grass” or “devil's grass” - dry celandine was worn on the chest as a protective amulet against “dark forces” or as a remedy to relieve severe melancholy;
“lichen herb” - for the treatment of ringworm with celandine;
“prozornik” - celandine oil was used for eye diseases, including to reduce “eye cataracts”.
“dog soap” - for the ability of celandine to rid pets of ticks and fleas.

Appearance and biological description

Greater celandine (warthog, jaundice) - belongs to the monotypic genus Celandine of the Poppy family (Papaveraceae). This is a tall (from 30 cm to 1 m in height) beautiful plant with a branched stem, growing like a small formed bush. It can often be found in gardens, parks and vegetable gardens, where it grows as a weed. In the southern regions of the country, celandine is cultivated for the preparation of pharmacological raw materials (the grass is mowed twice a season).

The root system is taproot; The rhizome is reddish-brown, bright orange when cut, with well-branched lateral roots.

The stem (one or more) is erect, hollow, branched, ribbed and noded.

The leaves are lyre-shaped, oddly pinnately dissected from 3-5 segments, with a bluish-lilac bloom below, on long petioles. The upper leaves are small, sessile.

The flowers are not large, with four bright yellow petals, collected in umbrella-shaped inflorescences of 5-7 flowers on small stalks.

The fruit is a capsule with small black oval-shaped seeds.

Myrmecochory - as a type of symbiotic interaction in nature

Celandine seeds are equipped with elaiosomes - peculiar evolutionary adaptations that increase their attractiveness to ants, and at the same time - the likelihood of plant reproduction. It is a comb-like whitish growth on the seeds containing protein and lipid compounds that attract the attention of ants as supplies. Insects drag celandine seeds with elaiosomes deep into the bowels of the anthill to feed the larvae. After the elaiosome bait is eaten, the celandine seeds, which have become unattractive to the ants, will be taken to the “dump” of the anthill, where, surrounded by a nutrient medium from the decaying remains of the ant family, they can successfully germinate by the beginning of the next season. This is one of the amazing phenomena of symbiotic cooperation between insects and plants - myrmecochory, that is, the dispersal of plant seeds by ants.

Distribution area and habitat of Greater Celandine

Greater celandine is distributed throughout the European part of the continent, with the exception of the Far North, and is found in the Far East and in some areas of Siberia, in the mountains of the North Caucasus, Alatau, and Tien Shan.

The Celandine plant grows in coniferous, broad-leaved and mixed forests, in places protected from open sun and wind. on the edges, among low bushes along the banks of rivers. The spreading bushes of celandine do not form continuous thickets; they often grow singly or in two or three plants side by side. Celandine prefers moist, fertile soils, so it often grows along the banks of rivers fertilized with silt. In mountainous areas, the distribution limit of celandine reaches the zone of alpine meadows. In gardens, vegetable gardens, city parks and vacant lots, celandine grows like a weed,

Chemical composition and properties of celandine

Medicinal properties Celandine, used for many centuries in the treatment of many diseases, is explained high concentration potent chemicals in the plant. All parts of celandine, and the roots to a greater extent, contain alkaloids - complex potent substances, which have medicinal properties in small doses, explaining the benefits of celandine in the treatment of many diseases, and in large doses– poisonous.

Protoberberines;
Protopines;
Benzophenanthredines and other groups of alkaloids.

One of the most effective alkaloids that determine the use of celandine in medicine is chelidonine, which acts like morphine. The presence of chelidonine, for example, explains the analgesic effect when using celandine juice or tincture for toothache, intestinal spasms, and also as an anticonvulsant. In addition, the antimicrobial activity of chilidonin against pathogens was noted anthrax and bactericidal effect on Staphylococcus aureus.

Berberine also has an analgesic effect, and in addition increases uterine contractions, which explains the use of celandine preparations in gynecology.

Alkaloids of the benzophenanthredine group delay the mitosis of tumor cells, increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy, proving the appropriateness of the use of celandine preparations in the treatment of cancer.

In addition to alkaloids, the medicinal properties of celandine are provided by essential oils, organic acids, carotene, etc.

From the history of treatment with celandine

The healing properties of Celandine have been known for a very long time. Witch doctors and healers had great confidence in medicines based on it. Many recipes for treating celandine have survived to this day. How dosage forms juice from the plant, extracts, decoctions from grass and roots, oil from celandine seeds, as well as powder from dried crushed grass are used. In the scientific literature, a description of medicines based on celandine has been known since the times of Ancient Greece. Claudius Galen, a famous pharmacist and physician, recommended celandine extract for the treatment of liver diseases, describing in detail both its hepatoprotective properties and the method of preparing the medicine by distillation. Subsequently, all medical preparations made in a similar way (isolating the extract) were called “Galenic”.

The famous Persian scientist, doctor, philosopher Abu Ibn Sina (Avicena) widely used celandine treatment in medical practice. He claimed that celandine juice “strongly cleanses” the body, having a beneficial effect on the “ejection organs” - the kidneys and intestines. History has preserved Avicena's written instructions to his students on how to treat cancer, liver diseases and skin diseases with celandine: eczema, psoriasis, non-healing trophic ulcers.

From generation to generation, herbalists and healers pass on a variety of medicines based on the celandine herb: extracts, decoctions, ointments, freshly squeezed celandine juice, dry celandine powder. It was used as a hepatoprotective, weak diuretic, and anti-inflammatory agent. Taking celandine was prescribed for spasms or intestinal atony, kidney and liver diseases, and to relieve pain during attacks of rheumatism. Celandine juice was used to treat nasal polyps, remove warts and dark spots. However, it should be remembered that all parts of the plant are poisonous, so you should use celandine at home with great caution and only after consulting with specialists. So, absolute contraindication for the treatment of celandine is pregnancy and lactation, epilepsy and cardiovascular diseases. Celandine preparations are not prescribed to children under three years of age.

How to take celandine: folk recipes

An ancient recipe for removing warts with celandine juice

Wash the part of the body on which a skin growth has formed - a wart - clean and steam well. Lubricate the skin around the growth with oil or Vaseline to prevent burns. Apply juice from a freshly cut celandine stem onto the steamed wart at least three times a day, each time cutting off a fresh stem. If a hard crust forms on the skin of the growth, it must be steamed again and removed, and then continue treatment.

Celandine decoction for the treatment of intestinal atony

Chopped celandine rhizome – 6 teaspoons;
Water – 6 glasses.

Fill the roots cold water and, having brought to a boil, simmer over low heat for at least 20 minutes. To enhance peristalsis, take a third of a glass of tea 4 times a day.

Preparation of celandine tincture with vodka

Before cutting, wash the leaves of the plant in water and dry. Place the cut leaves in an enamel or glass container with opaque walls, fill the container with leaves to 2/3 of the volume. Then fill the dishes with vodka and place in a dark place, tightly closing the lid, for 3 weeks. Strain the finished celandine tincture through a sieve and pour into a bottle with a well-fitted lid. Using celandine tincture, wipe the warts with a cotton swab soaked in the tincture at least three times a day until they dry completely.

Tincture of celandine juice with medical alcohol

Rinse the dug up celandine plants well along with the roots, chop and mince. Keep the prepared pulp for two days in a cool, dark place. Then strain and mix in a 4:1 ratio with pure medical alcohol. Alcohol can be replaced with vodka (take one part of vodka for two parts of squeezed juice).

Remedy for treating nail fungus with celandine

Celandine juice – 5 drops;
Oregano juice – 2 drops;
Calendula tincture – 2 drops;
Water - 3 tablespoons.

Treat the affected areas of the nail with the resulting solution 3-4 times a day. The course of treatment is 10-14 days.

Baths with celandine in the treatment of psoriasis

Finely chop 100 grams of celandine roots and pour into 10 liters cold water. Leave for 2 hours. Then bring the water with the chopped herbs to a boil and boil for 30 minutes. Ready decoction strain and pour into a bath of warm water. Take baths daily for 10 days.

Ointment based on celandine for the treatment of herpes on the lips

Mix a teaspoon of alcohol tincture of celandine with two teaspoons of calendula tincture. Add a few drops of eucalyptus oil. Use the resulting solution to lubricate the hardened area on the lip or apply a cotton swab soaked in the solution to it.

Remedy for treating toothache

Mix freshly squeezed Kalanchoe juice with celandine juice in equal proportions. Mix the solution. Soak a cotton swab in the resulting solution and apply it to the gum on the side of the diseased tooth.

This perennial popularly called warthog, jaundice, grasshopper, swallowweed or witch's grass. All these names refer to the great celandine from the poppy family, the official Latin name which Chelidónium május. A weed with bright yellow inflorescences, familiar from childhood, has long been used as a medicinal plant and helps to cope with a number of ailments.

Celandine reaches a height of 0.3-1.1 m, structural features vary depending on living conditions. The stem is hollow, ribbed, covered with sparse villi, and branches at the top. Leaves are light green, with inside– light bluish tint, arranged alternately. In the lower part of the stem they are petiolate, in the upper part they are sessile. They have a feathery shape, consist of three to five pairs of round or oval lobes with a dissected surface. The root is branched, brownish-red on the outside, orange-yellowish when cut.

The flowers are yellow, consisting of four petals, collected in umbrellas of five to eight pieces. The plant does not have honey glands that secrete nectar, but attracts insects with an abundance of pollen. Flowering occurs from May to June, in some climatic zones it continues until September. The fruits - pods 0.5 cm long - ripen in August-October. Seeds with a diameter of 1-1.5 mm, black-brown, with a lacquered sheen and a whitish appendage in the form of a ridge.

A distinctive characteristic of celandine, from a botanical point of view, is the release of a caustic milky juice when leaves or stems with flowers are broken, which acquires a bright orange hue in the air. The plant is toxic and is not eaten by herbivores.

Where does celandine grow in Russia?

The plant's distribution range is in all regions, with the exception of the Arctic regions. It is found everywhere in European and Mediterranean countries, in China and even on the American continent, where it was brought by colonialists in the 17th century. Prefers temperate climate zones. Strange popular name It received a “podtynnik” for its habit of living under every fence (or, as they said in the villages, “tynom”).

The Greeks noticed that celandine blooms with the arrival of swallows, and flowering ends when the birds leave the country, hence the name - swallow grass. Children and adults know what celandine looks like - after all, it can be seen everywhere on summer cottages, in gardens, in the city, where it grows like ordinary weeds. The grass is unpretentious and takes root even on poor soils.

In what places is celandine common?

Plants prefer shady corners in deciduous and coniferous thickets and river valleys, populating the surroundings of housing, vacant lots, roadsides, clearings and areas of fires. Ants that use celandine seeds for food transport them over considerable distances, helping to increase growth. Why the herb got its main name becomes clear if we remember that back in Ancient Rome it was used to remove warts, remove calluses and treat eczema.

Chemical composition

Greater celandine has been studied in detail by pharmacognosy and is used in the production of a whole range of medical supplies. Plant-based products have a multifaceted effect due to the substances contained in the raw materials:

alkaloids (chelidonine, protopine, sanguinarine, helyrythrine, berberine, homochelidonine, etc.);
essential oils;
saponins;
carotene;
flavonoids;
organic natural acids (succinic, chelidonic, citric, malic);
vitamins of groups A and C;
minerals (potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, bromine);
tanning elements and resins.

Preparation of preparations from celandine

The optimal time for collecting medicinal raw materials is the flowering period. The upper parts of the plant are cut off without touching the roughened root areas of the stem. You need to take precautions: do not touch your face, wash your hands with soap after work. It is recommended to use gloves and safety glasses. Celandine is collected only in dry, clear weather. It is necessary to cut off plants that have succulent green color without signs of wilting or fungal infection. To preserve the growth, be sure to leave some of the grass for the seeds to ripen, and in the next two years, mowing is done in a different place.

Depending on the region, raw materials can be collected from May to August, while flowering continues. In autumn, after the above-ground part of the plant dies, or in early spring, when the first shoots appear, roots are harvested. They are collected, washed under cold water, excess parts are cut off and used for the preparation of homeopathic medicines.

Drying

To prepare celandine as a basis for future medicinal remedies, immediately after cutting the grass is sent to special dryers or laid out in a thin layer on paper in well-ventilated areas, protected from direct sunlight. To avoid rotting, you need to turn the plants regularly. When the stems break when bent, the raw material is considered dried. When packaging, it is recommended to wear masks, as microscopic particles of the herb irritate the nasal mucous membranes.

Storage

Raw materials are divided into whole and crushed (fragments of flowers, leaves, stems that freely pass through 7 mm sieve holes). To properly prepare celandine and make effective medicine, it is necessary to strictly observe collection technologies and storage conditions. It is optimal to pack the grass in linen bags and keep it hanging in a dry, dark place. Healing qualities are retained for three years.

Pharmacological properties of greater celandine

The composition of the herb, saturated with alkaloids, macro- and microelements, provides a therapeutic effect wide range actions - anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antiviral, antifungal, analgesic, antispasmodic and others.

According to studies, celandine has a cytostatic and cytotoxic effect in the early stages of cancer: it inhibits the growth of malignant tumors, triggers the process of necrosis inside cancer cells, and prevents the formation of metastases.

For a long time, products prepared on the basis of the plant have helped get rid of papillomas, warts, acne, reduce the manifestations of eczema and other skin pathologies, relieve itching. The substances included in celandine stimulate intestinal peristalsis, increase the secretion of saliva, and tone the muscles of the uterus. However, it is important to be careful: if celandine acts as a medicine in small quantities, an overdose can cause serious damage to health and cause symptoms of poisoning when consumed orally and burns when used externally.

Use of celandine in traditional medicine

Alkaloids included in the herb are used in the production of a number of medications. Medicines based on celandine fight the herpes virus and are used to treat acute inflammatory process, affecting the spinal cord and brain - encephalomyelitis. The bacteriostatic effect of products with plant extract exceeds the properties of antibiotics against staphylococcus and mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Combined preparations using celandine alkaloids are effective against gram-positive and gram-negative species of bacteria and fungi and are prescribed for such pathologies as:

herpetic and ulcerative stomatitis;
wound skin lesions that do not heal for a long time;
trichomonas colpitis;
polio;
alveolar pyorrhea;
erosion.

Chelidonine and berberine in medications reduce blood pressure. The choleretic, anti-inflammatory effect of alkaloids is used in the treatment of cholecystitis, pancreatitis, hepatitis, gastric ulcer and duodenum. Root extract is included in the composition of remedies prescribed for the formation of stones in the gallbladder. Research by Russian doctors has confirmed the benefits of celandine for intestinal polyps.

Traditional methods of treatment

The plant has been used since ancient times to combat skin diseases. Children were bathed in a decoction of celandine for scrofula. Ulcers and eczema were treated with infusion, and they tried to lighten freckles and age spots with it. Based on the herb, remedies were prepared for the treatment of skin tuberculosis, psoriasis, and lupus. The rhizomes were boiled and used for dysentery. Crushed leaves were applied to festering wounds to combat infection. Tincture from the plant was used for diseases biliary tract, liver, gastrointestinal pathologies.

In Tibetan medicine, celandine flowers have long been used to reduce fever. The Greek healer Theophrastus prescribed infusions from the plant for jaundice, stomach pain, and constipation. In Rus', wounds, burns, and ulcers were treated with a solution of alcohol or water. The decoction served and disinfectant V household- they poured it over clay pots and jars, and the cream and milk were stored in them longer without turning sour. Recipes for preparing herbal medicine have been developed, which are also used in modern herbal medicine. Celandine extracts are actively used in the manufacture of homeopathic remedies. In folk medicine, the stems, leaves, flowers, rhizomes and juice of the plant are used.

Preparation of medicines

The presence of biological substances with a wide spectrum of action in celandine makes it effective means to fight diseases of various origins. Based on it, they are preparing healing infusions and infusions that help cope with a lot of ailments.

Ointment

For one part of celandine juice, take four parts of petroleum jelly or lanolin. It is also acceptable to use crushed dried leaves. Helps to reduce warts, remove calluses, reduce the manifestations of dermatitis and eczema, and relieve itching. The finished ointment is placed in the refrigerator, where it retains its beneficial properties for one and a half to two years.

Collections with celandine for healing baths

Water procedures – effective way relaxation, and in combination with the anti-inflammatory and tonic effect of herbal decoctions will bring maximum benefit. Baths with the addition of a mixture of herbs and greater celandine are effective for healing, treating and preventing diseases. It is recommended to use mixtures with chamomile, oregano, string, St. John's wort and other herbs.

All plants are collected and dried separately, and then mixed in equal proportions. It is advisable to store the mixture in linen bags. To prepare a decoction 200 g herbal collection pour four liters of boiling water. After infusion, the solution is filtered and added to warm water. Take baths in for preventive purposes It is recommended for 15-20 minutes twice a week. Depending on the combinations and proportions of herbs included in the collection, procedures increase immunity and help with exacerbations of cystitis, psoriasis, and neurodermatitis.

Infusions for oral use

Used for gastritis, colitis, peptic ulcer, inflammation of the gallbladder, bronchopulmonary pathologies. Also used as a prophylactic and restorative. To avoid an overdose, in the first stages of use, take one teaspoon of dry herb per glass of liquid. Gradually the concentration of celandine is increased. The infusion should be taken three times a day before meals, diluted in water. During treatment it is recommended to increase consumption fermented milk products. Taking the drug requires breaks, otherwise there is a risk of addiction, development of dysbacteriosis and other complications.

Preparing celandine juice

Disinfectants and antibacterial properties plants make it indispensable healing agent. Prepared from fresh juice medicinal solutions for gargling when colds, nose drops for sinusitis, application of compresses, cauterization of papillomas and warts, treatment of abrasions and calluses. To prepare canned juice, fresh grass is washed, dried and crushed. The plant mass is squeezed out using gauze, the liquid is placed in a tightly closed container and left in a cool place. As the juice ferments, the lid is regularly removed to release the resulting gas. When the process stops, the solution is ready.

Blood purifying tea

Used as a prophylactic for eczema and pyodermatitis. To prepare, mix celandine, sea buckthorn, birch, blueberry and white mulberry leaves, tricolor violet, peppermint, and pumpkin seeds in equal proportions. The herbs are poured with boiling water, infused, and filtered. Drink a quarter glass after meals for ten days.

Contraindications

Using greater celandine as remedy must be carried out under medical supervision. Plant-based preparations should not be used for the following conditions:

Violation of dosage and proportions causes symptoms of intoxication: nausea, vomiting, weakness, depression of the respiratory center. Improper external use can cause burns and skin damage. In such cases, you should immediately contact medical institution. Celandine is a useful medicinal plant that helps overcome a lot of diseases, but its use should not be uncontrolled.

Description and features of celandine

Celandine is a herbaceous plant with healing power. An unpretentious herbaceous plant that grows almost everywhere is celandine. It can be seen on the edges of forests and rocky slopes.

This annoying weed is even considered by many owners of summer cottages to be a malicious weed. At the end of spring and in the summer months, such a representative of the flora, growing extremely quickly, arbitrarily fills the spaces along the fences of private houses and garden plots, bringing a lot of trouble to their owners.

But don’t rush with irritation to pull out, burn and throw away such a weed, because celandine grass has many valuable qualities. It is this plant that is quite capable of becoming a powerful weapon to combat hated pests of vegetable gardens and orchards, in addition, it can also bring enough benefits for those who are able to study its properties and skillfully use them.

This representative of the planet’s flora belongs to the poppy family by biologists, reaches half a meter in growth, and in some cases even a meter in length, and is perennial.

As seen in photo of celandine, it has a branched straight stem, which, when broken, releases a thick liquid - milky juice, which in air instantly transforms into a substance that has an orange-yellow hue, while having a bitter taste.

From the stem of celandine, large leaves emerge, green on top and bluish below, consisting of round or oval paired lobes in an amount of three to five. The upper lobe is three-lobed and larger than all the others. And the light brown taproot of the plant goes down underground.

In the photo there are celandine flowers

Celandine does not have nectaries - special glands that form sugar juice, but insects are attracted to a similar flora object that has a huge amount of pollen.

Sometimes all the warm months of the year can bloom for celandine, starting from sunny May and ending with August, close to autumn, famous for its cool nights. And it is at this time that at the ends of the plant’s stem one can observe golden-yellow celandine flowers, built from four small centimeter-long petals.

It should be warned: all parts of celandine, not only, but also stems with roots, contain alkaloids and other toxic substances, which makes the plant poisonous.

However, at the same time, all its components, including the seeds in which they are found fixed oils, are also considered valuable raw materials. And the plant itself is rightfully classified by scientists as medicinal. The reason is that celandine is built from elements that are commonly called biologically active.

It contains vitamins, succinic, malic and citric organic acids, tannins, essential and resinous oils, and much more. But one should only use such wealth correctly for the benefit of people and their health, finding a reasonable use of celandine.

Planting and propagation of celandine

The fruits of celandine have the form of a pod in which shiny small black seeds ripen, having two cotyledons, which gave the name to the genus of the plant: dicotyledons.

They are attractive to nimble, hardworking ants, who, spending their lives in everyday chores, carry seeds over long distances, unwittingly contributing to the plant’s ability to spread to new territories.

The photo shows pods with celandine seeds

Summer residents and gardeners not only fight celandine as a malicious weed. Many of them understand that the plant can repel dangerous pests, so they deliberately plant it in gardens and vegetable gardens. And the poisonous capabilities of celandine are used to combat enemies of cultivated plantings, destroy copperheads, scale insects and aphids.

When breeding celandine, you need to take into account that such grass reproduces in two ways: by cuttings of rhizomes and by seeds. The latter can be used fresh.

In this case, they are planted in June or July, choosing any suitable place, maintaining a half-meter gap between the rows and sprinkling with a thin layer of earth. But dried seeds two years old are also quite suitable. They can be planted before winter or in spring in shady areas with high soil moisture.

On the picture medicinal juice celandine, which is released when the stem is broken

Caring for celandine

This unassuming external conditions The plant usually does not require special care. Only for the first time after the appearance of the first shoots, it is better to ensure that in the initial period, when the shoots of celandine are just coming into force, it is not drowned out by other, more overgrown ones.

It is necessary to weed the area, water it during the dry period and loosen the soil until the celandine turns into a fully viable plant.

Mineral supplements for initial stage won't hurt at all. However, you can do without them, because this grass is perfectly capable of developing and growing on its own in nature.

The plant begins to bloom only a couple of years after planting, but a dense cover of its shoots is formed much earlier, since the reproduction of celandine occurs, including the renewal of buds, which are formed annually on its roots in an amount of up to three pieces.

Types of celandine

Among the varieties of this plant, which takes its place in the genus of dicotyledons, only two species stand out. The main one has the name great celandine. The grass spreads over a vast area of Europe, also growing in Russia.

The only exceptions are areas under the yoke of snow in the Far North. Thickets of the described representative of the flora - common occurrence in the Mediterranean. The plant was also brought to the north of the American continent.

It is not for nothing that popular rumor dubbed the great celandine a warthog, which noted its magnificent properties healthy juice used by ancestors modern people for many centuries.

After all, it was with the help of miraculous potions created from this ingredient that they got rid of for warts. Celandine treated fungal diseases, purulent boils, burns, calluses and papillomas, destroyed pigment spots, pimples and skin growths at the root.

Medicinal possibilities celandine juice find their use in human civilization, as many sources testify, since the 4th century BC.

It is known that the famous scientist and philosopher of antiquity Theophrastus, who also became famous in Greece as a healer, prescribed to his patients suffering from serious illnesses, celandine treatment.

Various components of the plant have the ability to perfectly cleanse the skin. And with this, celandine justifies and confirms its main name.

A traditional healers today, using the properties of celandine for healing nervous disorders, treatment of old wounds and scabies, the plant was dubbed Russian ginseng for its ability to get rid of various ailments, restoring people’s precious health.

Celandine decoction has an analgesic and diuretic effect, relieves colitis and normalizes stomach function when used correctly. Homeopaths prepare from the roots celandine tinctures, while also prescribing internal administration of the drug, despite its toxicity, but in strictly calculated doses.

Another variety of miraculous herb, widely known as a medicinal and ornamental plant, first described by the Japanese Hiroshi Hara as only a subspecies greater celandine, grows in East Asia, therefore received the name: Asian celandine.

Medicinal properties of celandine and its contraindications

Modern medicine highly values the properties of celandine. And based on it they are produced medications for the treatment of infections, ailments of various organs of the body: liver, kidneys and gall bladder, strengthening the nervous and immune system, relieving fever and inflammation of the gums.

In addition, the components of this plant are actively used for making cosmetics: balms, ointments, gels for the care of delicate skin of the face and other parts of the body.

From plant juice and extracts from other medicinal herbs a famous balm is made " Mountain celandine» for treatment skin diseases. According to some data, the drug can even affect cancer formations.

The invention of pharmacist Bolotov is kvass made from celandine. This biological product, using the healing power of the plant, also eliminates negative action alkaloids contained in it.

The essence of the principle is that during the process of fermentation and the action of whey enzymes, the toxic substances filling the structure of the plant lose their potency. Bolotov celandine It turns out to be very useful for treating diseases of the ears and nasopharynx, stomach and intestines, regenerating their membranes.

Of course, decoctions and tinctures from this plant have invaluable medicinal qualities, but it should be remembered that the preparation of their ingredients must be done according to all the rules.

After all, if used incorrectly components celandine are extremely possible severe poisoning. Its symptoms may include: slow pulse, decreased blood pressure, depressed nervous state, even convulsions and nausea.

If warning signs appear, you should immediately perform gastric lavage. And in severe cases, it is better to take the victim to the hospital.

As evidenced

(warthog, celandine, swallow grass, yellow milkweed, clear grass, yellow spurge, light grass, etc.) Currently, taxonomists believe that the celandine genus includes only one species - greater celandine. The plant, known in the Middle Ages under the name lesser celandine, is now called spring grass; it is highlighted in independent genus and assigned to another family. However, the ancients had some reasons for combining these two so dissimilar plants.

Modern research has established that spring celandine contains the same alkaloids as greater celandine. Pliny reports on the origin of the generic name:

The grass begins to grow when they arrive
And withers when, out of habit, they fly away
And “chelidonia” is where her name comes from: after all, “chelidon” is
This winged bird is usually called by the Greeks.

This belief has been generally accepted for 2,000 years, hence the name "swallow grass". However, there is another version that explains the origin of this name from the ancient Latin coeli donum, which means “gift of heaven.”

A large group of Russian names for celandine is associated with an unusual yellow its juice: yellow milkweed, yellow spurge, etc. The color of the milky juice, unusual for our plants, attracted the close attention of alchemists in the Middle Ages. They attributed this to the undoubted relationship of celandine with gold. And since the main goal of alchemists’ research was the transformation of base metals into gold, celandine had to visit the crucibles and retorts of alchemists. Modern scientists have explained the reason for such an unusual color of the milky juice by the presence large quantity red-orange pigment - carotene. The basis for the name “light herb” was that many generations of doctors, starting from the ancient Greeks, Avicenna and up to the 18th century, considered celandine useful for eye diseases. This belief was based on old legend, which says that a swallow treats the eyes of its blinded chicks with celandine juice.

To treat eye diseases, celandine juice along with honey was boiled over low heat until the foaming stopped and it became similar to honey. This liquid should be applied to the eyes as often as possible.

The largest group of names - celandine, chistukha, wart - is associated with the traditional use of celandine in the treatment of skin diseases.

As a medicinal plant, celandine was widely used in Ancient Rome and in Arab medicine. In the Middle Ages, celandine root was used to treat liver diseases; celandine juice with goat lard was applied to ulcers. In Russia, scrofulous children were bathed in a decoction of the herb, skin tuberculosis and scabies were treated, and warts and freckles were removed. In some places, celandine was used to treat malignant tumors, but scientific medicine treated these reports with distrust, until in 1896 the Russian doctor Denisenko published a report on several cases of successful treatment malignant diseases celandine extract. The drug was supplied to him by the famous Moscow pharmacy company Ferrein.

A.P. Chekhov in a letter to A.S. Suvorin writes: “A cure for cancer has been found. It's been almost a year now since light hand Russian doctor Denisenko is trying the juice of celandine, or warthog, and now we have to read about amazing results.” Unfortunately, celandine preparations did not have a consistent effect; no explanation was found for this, and gradually the enthusiasm of doctors faded away. Nowadays, a series of experiments have been carried out using the latest achievements science, the results of which showed that celandine preparations inhibit the growth of tumors, especially on the skin and mucous membranes.

IN scientific medicine juice and powder from the herb are used to cauterize warts, warts, polyps, and in the initial forms of lupus erythematosus. It is also used for diseases of the stomach and liver. It is used internally only under medical supervision. Poisonous!

In homeopathy it is used to treat diseases of the liver and biliary tract.

Greater celandine is a large plant up to 1 m with a succulent ribbed stem. Rosette leaves overwinter. All leaves are pinnately dissected with rounded, crenate-shaped lobes along the edge. Feature leaves - their two colors. They are bright green above and bluish with a waxy coating below. Flowers are up to 1 cm in diameter, collected in simple umbrellas. They are bright yellow, four-petalled,

with a calyx falling off during flowering. The fruit is a long pod-like capsule with a large number of small black seeds. These seeds are equipped with a white cartilaginous apex that ants love to eat. By taking away the seeds, ants contribute to the spread of celandine. Therefore, its bushes can be found in the most unexpected places: in a crack in the asphalt pavement, in the corner of the yard, between the blocks of a stone wall. But in general, celandine loves rich manured soils and therefore settles closer to humans. It is found throughout the country, but does not form large thickets anywhere. All organs of the plant contain yellow milky sap, which leaves stains on hands and clothes. Particularly sensitive people may even experience inflammation or blistering of the skin. Celandine herb contains more than a dozen alkaloids. In addition, it was discovered essential oil, carotene, flavonoids, saponins and other substances.

Celandine grass can be used as a good insecticidal agent against pests in gardens and vegetable gardens. Celandine juice is used for blackening metals, and seed oil is used as a good anti-corrosion agent. Yellow dye is obtained from the roots. In some areas, milk jugs are steamed with celandine grass to prevent it from going sour, and they fumigate livestock to prevent death.