Buttercups - Ranunculaceae. Parts used: grass. Pharmacy name: summer Adonis herb - Adonidis aestivalis herba (formerly: Heiba Adonidis aestivalis).
Botanical description. This annual plant reaches a height of 30-50 cm. The erect stem sometimes branches in the upper part. The leaves are alternate, double- or triple-pinnately divided into three-four-lobed segments. On a long peduncle sits a single lead-red flower with a black spot in the depths. If you see it at least once, you will no longer confuse it with any other.
Adonis blooms from July to September. It is found as a weed in meadows, arable lands, fallow fields and wastelands.
Collection and preparation. During flowering, the plant is cut quite low above the ground, tied into bunches and dried in the shade in the air.
Active ingredients. Glycosides that act on the heart have been found in summer adonis. Their content is insignificant, but this pharmaceutical product cannot be called inactive. It is believed that there are other active substances in adonis, but they have not yet been sufficiently studied.
Healing action and application. This medicinal plant is not used in scientific medicine, because it is not a complete replacement for spring adonis (Adonis vernalis). Only in folk medicine is it used according to the instructions of the authors of old herbalists.
Use in folk medicine. Tea from this medicinal plant is usually used to cleanse the blood, for coughs, as a mild sleeping pill for the elderly and for swelling of the body.
Side effects. If spring adonis is considered a poisonous plant, then the designation “poisonous plant” for summer adonis is probably not suitable: it contains very few cardiac glycosides. And yet, despite this, I would not recommend using this medicinal plant for self-treatment.