Snake Knotweed, Or Crayfish Necks.

Snake Knotweed, Or Crayfish Necks

A perennial herbaceous plant of the buckwheat family, up to 1 m high. The rhizome is woody, sharply curved, black-brown, pink at the break, with numerous adventitious roots. The stem is erect, bare, knotty, unbranched.

The leaves are alternate, oblong, of two types: basal and stem. Basal - large, petiolate; stem ones are small, their petiole grows together with the stipules into a membranous tube - a bell. Blooms in May - June.

The flowers are often pink, small, collected in apical racemes. The fruit is a triangular, smooth, dark brown nut. Ripens in June - July.

Snake knotweed is distributed from north to south of the European part of Russia and in Siberia. Grows in moist, acidic soils, marshy grassy meadows, in forest clearings, among shrubs in subalpine meadows.

Used for tanning leather, preparing ink, and dyeing fabrics yellow and brown.

The rhizomes are fried and used as a substitute for spinach, they are used to make a substitute for tea and added to rye flour when baking bread. The seeds are fed to poultry.

Rhizomes serve as medicinal raw materials.

Together with the roots, they are dug up in the fall or early spring, cleared of soil, washed in cold water, cut into pieces 10-15 cm long, air-dried and dried in a ventilated room, under a canopy, in a dryer or oven at a temperature of 45.50°C. WITH. Darkened roots and rhizomes are not allowed in the finished raw materials.

The raw material at the break should be pink and taste astringent. Store in a closed container for 2 years.

The rhizomes contain tannins, catechins, anthraquinones, gallic acid, starch, vitamin C and carotene.

Polygonum preparations have an astringent, anti-inflammatory, hemostatic and diuretic effect. The astringent property of the rhizome manifests itself slowly as the active substances are broken down under the influence of digestive enzymes.

The main advantage of snakeweed is the ability to regulate the function of the gastrointestinal tract in acute and chronic intestinal diseases accompanied by diarrhea of ​​non-dysenteric origin.

Decoctions are used as an astringent to treat wounds, bleeding, boils, inflammatory diseases of the bladder and heavy menstruation. Mixed with chamomile and cuff herb, the rhizomes are used for douching for inflammation of the vagina.

A decoction of knotweed rhizomes is useful for stones in the gall and bladder.

To prepare it, 20 g of well-ground raw materials are poured into 1 liter of hot water, boiled in a closed enamel container in a water bath for 20 minutes, filtered while hot and the volume is brought to the original volume. Take 1 - 1.5 glasses per day. Highlander decoction is also used for ulcers, purulent wounds, stomatitis, and gastrointestinal bleeding.

For this purpose, 20 g of crushed rhizomes are poured into 1 glass of hot water, boiled in a closed enamel container in a water bath for 30 minutes, filtered while hot through two or three layers of gauze and brought to the original volume. Take every 2 hours. For rinsing and lotions, dilute 1 tablespoon of decoction in 1/2 glass of water.

For douching, prepare an infusion of mantle grass, chamomile flowers and knotweed rhizomes, taken 5 g each. The mixture is poured into 1 liter of hot water, boiled in a closed enamel container in a water bath for 15 minutes, cooled for 45 minutes, filtered through two or three layers of gauze and added 0.5 liters of boiled water. Use for one douching.

The procedure is carried out every other day. The course of treatment is 3 weeks.

For dysentery and diarrhea during the recovery period, sometimes take 0.5-1 g of snakeweed rhizome powder 3 times a day.