Krushina Alkhovydnaya, or Lomdaya.

Buckthorn Alder, Or Lomdaya

A large non-thorny shrub or small tree of the buckthorn family, up to 7 m high: The branches are large, covered with violet-brown or dark gray bark with white spots. The leaves are alternate, entire, elliptical or obovate. Blooms in May - June.

The flowers are greenish-yellow, collected in a raceme located in the axils of the leaves. The fruit is initially red, after ripening black, spherical berry with two or three seeds. Ripens in August - September.

Alder buckthorn is widespread in the European part of Russia, the Caucasus, Western and Eastern Siberia, Central Asia and Kazakhstan. It grows along the edges, banks of rivers, streams, the edges of swamps, in the undergrowth of floodplain forests, in flooded meadows, sometimes on gravelly slopes in the mountains up to an altitude of 200 m above sea level, singly or in groups, sometimes growing in thickets. Cultivated as an ornamental and medicinal plant.

It is a good honey plant. Buckthorn wood is used to make shoe nails, lasts, decorative plywood, carved crafts and furniture veneer; baskets are woven from the branches. The raw material is added to the feed of sika deer, sheep, horses and goats.

Extracts obtained from the bark and fruit are used to tan leather and dye wool in various shades of olive and brown.

The bark serves as a medicinal raw material. It is harvested in early spring, before the leaves appear, during sap flow, from trees to be cut down.

During this period, it moves well away from the wood. To do this, longitudinal cuts are made on trunks and thick branches down to the wood, then pieces of bark 40-50 cm in size are torn off using semicircular cuts. The prepared raw materials are sorted out, impurities are removed (leaves, old bark, etc.) and dried under a canopy, in the attic or in a dryer at a temperature not exceeding 70°C. Store in wooden or plywood boxes with a lid for 5 years.

The bark is rich in anthranols, anthraquinones (frangulin, chryzarobin, emodin, etc.), organic acids, coumarins, vitamin C, pectins and alkaloids. It contains essential oil, saponins, naphthaquinones, flavonoids and tannins.

Buckthorn preparations have a laxative, wound-healing, moderate anti-inflammatory, astringent and bactericidal effect, relax the smooth muscles of internal organs, and eliminate spasms.

A decoction of the bark is taken for spastic colitis and atonic constipation, which often develops in people with an underdeveloped abdominal wall, as well as to regulate intestinal activity in case of hemorrhoids and rectal fissures.

To prepare the decoction, pour 1 tablespoon of crushed raw materials into 1 glass of hot water, boil in a water bath for 20 minutes, strain while hot through two or three layers of gauze and bring the volume to the original volume.

Take 1/2 cup in the morning and at night. The laxative effect occurs after 8-10 hours. Corus should be used 1-2 years after preparation.

A decoction of fresh bark causes nausea, pain, and irritates the intestinal mucosa. With long-term storage, the amount of substances that irritate the intestines decreases. The toxicity of fresh raw materials can be significantly reduced if it is heated at a temperature of 100°C for 1 hour, but its medicinal properties will be lower.

An alcohol tincture of buckthorn bark is used topically. It is effective for streptoderma, pyoderma, boils and other diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, where there is a mixed microflora, including streptococci, staphylococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli.

To prepare the tincture, the crushed bark is poured with 30% alcohol in a ratio of 1:5 and kept at room temperature for 7-10 days.

Used in the form of lotions, bandages and for washing affected areas of the skin.

Buckthorn is included in the preparations for the treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers