Lapchatka Upright, or Kalgan.

Cinquefoil erecta, or Kalgan

A perennial herbaceous plant of the Rosaceae family, up to 30 cm high. The rhizome is thick, woody, almost horizontal, red, yellowish-white inside. The stem is thin, ascending, branched.

Leaves are trifoliate, alternate, sessile; basal - three- and five-fingered, with a petiole. Blooms in the 5th-7th year of life. Blooms from late May to October.

The flowers are solitary, yellow, located on long stalks. The fruit is a multi-nut, breaking up into separate nuts. Ripens in June - October.

Potentilla erecta is common in the European part of Russia, the Caucasus and Western Siberia. It grows in wet meadows and sparse forests, in forest clearings, clearings, wastelands and among bushes.

Propagated by seeds and cuttings of rhizomes.

The plant prefers acidic, humus-poor soils. Seeds are sown superficially in rows with a distance between them of 40-45 cm. Rhizomes are placed at the same distance.

After sowing or planting, the soil is watered and sprinkled with a sod-humus mixture. During the growing season, plants are constantly watered and fed in spring and mid-summer with nitroammophos at the rate of 20-30 g per 1 m2. Seedlings begin to bloom in the 5th year of life.

The annual growth of rhizomes is 3-15 g. The roots are collected 4-5 years after sowing.

Rhizomes serve as medicinal raw materials.

They are harvested in the fall, after the above-ground parts die, or in the spring, when the first leaves appear. The raw materials are dug up with a shovel, shaken off the ground, the roots are cut off, washed in running water, dried a little in the open air and dried on the veranda, attic or in a dryer at a temperature of 5°. 6О°С, spreading in a thin layer.

The finished raw material should be dark brown in color, yellowish at the break. Store in wooden containers or bags for 4 years.

Rhizomes contain tannins, flavonoids, organic acids, resin, tormentillin glycoside, quinic and ellagic acids, flabophenes, gum, starch.

The decoction has an astringent, hemostatic, minor antimicrobial and deodorizing effect. It is used for diarrhea, gastric and uterine bleeding. Externally used to rinse the mouth and throat for sore throat and bleeding gums, as well as to stop bleeding from wounds, treat ulcers and various skin diseases.

To prepare the decoction, pour 1 tablespoon of rhizomes with 1 glass of hot water, boil over low heat for 30 minutes and immediately filter. Take 1 tablespoon 4-5 times a day 30 minutes before meals. To rinse the mouth, the broth is diluted with water 4 times.

Use every 2 hours, periodically alternating with other disinfectants, such as burnet decoction. Prescribed for so-called richo-monas inflammation of the vagina (douching) and hemorrhoids (microclysters at night).