Common Heather.

Common Heather: properties and use in medicine and everyday life

Common heather (Calluna vulgaris) is an evergreen shrub belonging to the heather family. It can reach a height of 40 to 80 cm and has needle-like leaves that are small, opposite and entire. Abundant flowering begins in June and continues until late autumn. Heather flowers are small and pink, sometimes white, collected in a one-sided raceme on short stalks. The fruit is a leathery capsule with small seeds that ripen in August.

Common heather is common in the European part of Russia, Western and Eastern Siberia. It grows in sandy, dry places, in forest-tundra, on sand, along forest edges and in wastelands, forming extensive thickets. This shrub is a good honey plant and is used as a tea substitute. Heather is also used for winter bouquets and as livestock feed. Heather seed extract is used to control weeds, dye wool yellow and tan leather.

Heather leaves and flowers are used in medicine as medicinal raw materials. They are collected during flowering by tearing off the tops of shoots with flowers. The raw materials are dried in the shade or under a canopy, laid out on paper or burlap in a thin layer and often turned over. Store in closed cardboard or glass containers for no more than 1 year.

Various parts of heather contain organic acids (citric and fumaric), alkaloids, phenols and their derivatives, tannins, flavonoids, phenolcarboxylic acids (caffeic, ferulic, vanillic, etc.), coumarins, catechins, triterpenoids, saponins and leukoanthocyanidins.

Preparations prepared from heather have a sedative, hypnotic, diuretic, expectorant, hemostatic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, astringent, wound-healing and anti-acid effect. Heather tea is used as a sedative and diuretic that promotes phlegm production. An infusion of herbs (tops and flowers) is used for rheumatism, inflammation of the bladder wall, high fever, skin diseases, purulent processes in the urinary tract, as well as diabetes, atherosclerosis and hypertension.

Heather is also used in cosmetology. Heather extract is added to creams, masks and gels for skin care. This is due to the antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of heather, which help improve skin condition.

However, it should be remembered that consuming heather in large quantities can cause poisoning, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, dizziness and convulsions. Therefore, before using heather for medicinal purposes, you should consult your doctor.