Kermek Gmelina.

Kermek Gmelina

A perennial herbaceous plant of the Kermekov family, 30-40 cm high. The root is taproot, tomentose, thick, fleshy, red-brown at the fracture. The stem is shortened, looking like a root at the bottom; at the top it is covered with the remains of leaf petioles.

The leaves are bluish-green, leathery, ovoid or elliptical in shape, turning red at the break, collected in a basal rosette. Blooms in July-September. The flowers are small, numerous, collected in spikelets, which form pyramidal or corymbose inflorescences.

The fruit is dry, single-seeded, purple-brown. Ripens in August-September.

Kermek Gmelin is distributed in the European part of Russia, Western and Eastern Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. It grows in wastelands and dry steppes, in saline meadows, in saline river valleys, along the shores of salt lakes and sea coasts.

Used as feed for livestock, camels and sheep. Suitable for tanning sole leathers, and in combination with other tanning agents - for tanning soft leathers and morocco. Depending on the concentration of kermek extracts and the duration of exposure during dressing, the leather can acquire different colors - green, pink, red or brown. The flavonoids of this plant are used as food coloring. It is a good honey plant.

The medicinal raw materials are the roots and sometimes the above-ground part of the plant. They are harvested in September-October, carefully shaken off the ground, wiped with rags, cut into pieces, dried in the sun and dried in the shade or in a dryer at a temperature of 50-60°C, turning them over often. Store in a dry place in cloth bags for 3 years.

The roots contain carbohydrates, steroids, phenols, phenolcarboxylic acids, tannins, coumarins, flavonoids, anthocyanins and higher aromatic hydrocarbons.

Kermek preparations have anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, astringent and hemostatic effects. They can increase blood pressure.

A decoction of the roots is a powerful antimicrobial agent. This allows it to be used for acute gastrointestinal diseases, for rinsing the mouth and pharynx with sore throat, pharyngitis and other inflammatory diseases, as well as for stopping uterine bleeding.

To prepare a decoction, pour 6 g of roots into 1 glass of hot water, boil in a water bath in a closed enamel container for 30 minutes, strain hot through two or three layers of gauze, squeeze and bring the volume with boiled water to the original volume. Take 2 tablespoons 3 times a day after meals. For uterine bleeding, tampons soaked in the same decoction are simultaneously used.