Watch Three-Leaf, Or Trifol

Guarded. Shift workers - Menyanthaceae. Common names: water trefoil, beaver, river lapushnik, three-legged trefoil. Parts used: leaves. Pharmacy name: trifoli leaves - Trifolii fibrini folium (formerly: Folia Trifolii fibrini).

Botanical description.

Vakhta grows on swampy or silty soils and has a creeping rhizome up to 1 m in length. It is anchored in the soil by roots emerging from the nodes of the rhizome. The end of such a shoot rises up and produces a bunch of 3 or 4 trifoliate leaves.

The inflorescence is a multi-flowered raceme on a long peduncle. Flowers with a funnel-shaped, 5-membered corolla, pinkish-white, pubescent on the inside. A lovely plant that has not yet been destroyed, perhaps because if we want to pick it, we risk getting our feet wet.

Blooms from May to July. It is found in swamps, in ditches along meadows, on peat bogs, along the banks of ponds and lakes.

Collection and preparation.

The leaves are collected, cut off along with the petioles from May to July and dried in the open air. Previously, we imported it from the USSR, Poland, Yugoslavia and Hungary.

Active ingredients.

The main active ingredients of the watch are bitternesses of a glycosidic nature. Apart from tannins and flavonoids, all other substances are accompanying (although not indifferent).

Healing action and application.

If the basis of the composition of a medicinal plant is bitterness, and the accompanying substances are tannins, then it is suitable against gastric and intestinal disorders. This remedy is especially good at promoting the secretion of gastric juice and stimulating appetite. Wachta trifolia, like gentian, wormwood and centaury, belongs to the group of medicinal bitters.

And although it ranks last among them, it should not be neglected; it has its own merits. Its tannins, like bitters, are very effective for diarrhea accompanied by fermentation processes. In addition, by promoting the secretion of bile, it is useful for stomach and intestinal diseases with insufficient bile secretion.

Use in homeopathy.

In homeopathic practice, Menyanthes was previously used along with gentian to enhance stomach function. Today they are also trying to treat headaches, especially those accompanied by agitation, facial neuralgia, hearing loss in older people and nervous diseases. Suitable dilutions for this purpose are D; and D1. Take 3-5 (10) drops several times daily.

Use in folk medicine.

Vachta is known as an antipyretic, so tea is given for febrile illnesses. However, there is no data indicating the content of any substances that reduce temperature. If such use persists, it is perhaps due to the fact that bitterness, by increasing appetite and toning the body after illnesses with high fever, contributes to overall recovery. In addition, watch in folk medicine is used in all cases described in the section “Healing effects and applications.” Diseases of the gallbladder and liver, especially cholelithiasis, are treated today with tea from the watch. Experience shows that bitterness reduces complaints caused by gallstones. The use of watch as a remedy against rheumatism is unfounded.

Side effects are unknown, but the recommended dose should not be significantly exceeded.