Plantain Flea.

Plantain Flea

An annual herbaceous short-hairy plant of the plantain family, 5-40 cm high. Taproot. The stem is erect, branched, and has hairs in the upper half.

Leaves are opposite, linear or linear-lanceolate, narrow. Blooms in April-May. The flowers are small, collected in dense ovoid-spherical spikes.

The fruit is a two-locular capsule with shiny seeds. Ripens in July. Flea plantain is common in Transcaucasia and western Turkmenistan.

It grows on pebbles, in lowlands, in salty places and on dry mountain slopes. Introduced into cultivation in the central zone of the RSFSR, in Ukraine.

The seeds are used for making silk and cotton fabrics, glossing colored paper, in printing and in the production of ice cream.

Dry plantain grass, after threshing the seeds, is used as livestock feed.

Herbs and seeds serve as medicinal raw materials. The plant is harvested during the period of mass seed ripening, when the inflorescences turn brown.

They are dried under a canopy and threshed.

Flea plantain contains polysaccharides, flavonoids, tannins, bitterness, vitamins C and K, glycosides and a large amount of mucus.

The preparations of this plant have a laxative, anti-inflammatory, hemostatic, enveloping and wound-healing effect.

The juice is prepared from the fresh aerial part of the plantain mixed with the juice of the leaves of the plantain. Used for inflammation of the gastric mucosa with low acidity, as well as for chronic inflammation of the colon. Take 1 tablespoon 3 times a day 45-30 minutes before meals.

The course of treatment is 30 days.

Plant juice or crushed fresh leaves are applied to bleeding and purulent wounds. In this case, bleeding is stopped and the wounds are cleansed of pus.

The mucilage of the seeds is used to treat extensive burns. To obtain it, pour 1 tablespoon of seeds into 0.5 liters of hot water and shake for 20 minutes. Apply externally and internally 1/3 cup 3 times a day.

The dressing is changed 4-5 times on the 1st day, and 1-2 times thereafter.

For chronic constipation, accompanied by spasm of smooth muscles, take 1 tablespoon of seeds on an empty stomach with warm water. The effect appears after 8-10 hours.

When treating colitis, prepare a decoction of the seeds. To do this, pour 1 teaspoon of seeds into 1 glass of hot water, boil in a closed enamel container for 30 minutes, strain hot through two or three layers of gauze and bring the volume to the original volume. Take 1-2 tablespoons 3-5 times a day before meals.