Marsh Sabelnik, Or Decon.

Marsh cinquefoil, or Decon

A perennial subshrub of the Rosaceae family, 20–100 cm high. The stem is long, branched, lodging, and takes root at the nodes. The lower leaves are imparipinnate, with lateral leaflets, the upper ones are trifoliate.

The leaves are sessile, often hairy, bluish below, green above. Blooms from spring to late summer. The inflorescence is few-flowered. The petals are small, dark purple. The fruits are numerous, naked. Ripen in August - September.

Marsh cinquefoil is common in the European part of Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia and the Far East. It grows along the banks of bodies of water with standing water, in swamps, in the tundra, in wet and swampy meadows and in swampy forests. Used for tanning leather, dyeing wool, linen and cotton in sandy brown tones.

Sometimes used as a substitute for tea. It is food for reindeer, elk and beavers.

The entire plant serves as medicinal raw material. It is harvested in the second half of summer, withered and dried in the shade, under a canopy or in a dryer at a temperature of 40-50°C. Store in a closed container.

Sabelnik contains organic acids (isobutyric and isovaleric), vitamin C, carotene, tannins, catechins, flavonoids (quercetin and kaempferol), phenolcarboxylic acids and their derivatives, as well as essential oil, which includes pinene, terpeniol and methylheptenone.

The raw material has a diaphoretic, antipyretic, hemostatic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and blood pressure-lowering effect, exhibits antibacterial activity, which, in combination with a hemostatic and anti-inflammatory effect, determines the use of cinquefoil infusion for dysentery.

The aerial part of the plant is included in preparations for the treatment of dysentery, metabolic disorders, bleeding from the uterus and from the bites of rabid animals. The infusion is used for diarrhea, sexually transmitted diseases, leucorrhoea and neoplasms.

Its use in tuberculosis is most justified due to its antibacterial and antipyretic effects. Considering that cinquefoil has a diaphoretic effect, patients with tuberculosis are recommended to take its preparations at night.

For gout, radiculitis and rheumatism, baths with branches and rhizomes of the plant or poultices are practiced. A decoction of the rhizome is prescribed to accelerate the healing of purulent wounds for stomach pain and disease of the tissues surrounding the teeth. When salts are deposited, it is taken orally.

To prepare the infusion, pour 6 g of the aerial part of the plant into 1 glass of hot water, boil in a closed enamel container in a water bath for 15 minutes, cool for 45 minutes, filter through two or three layers of gauze, squeeze and bring the volume with boiled water to the original volume. Take 1 tablespoon 3 times a day after meals.

A decoction of the rhizome is prepared by pouring 4 g of raw material into 1 glass of hot water, boiling in a closed enamel container in a water bath for 30 minutes, filtering while hot and bringing the volume to the original volume.

The tincture is prepared from the crushed aerial part of the plant and rhizomes, taken equally. A half-liter jar is filled with raw materials, poured with 40% alcohol, and left in a warm place for 10-15 days. Take 1 teaspoon 3 times a day after meals. For external use, 1 tablespoon of tincture is rubbed into a sore spot 2-3 times a day and wrapped in a woolen cloth. The course of treatment is 1-1.5 months. After 1 month, treatment can be repeated.