Wintering horsetail, which is also called winter horsetail or wintering horsetail, belongs to the family of horsetail and is a plant growing on soils with a high level of fertility.
This is a shallow and coastal plant crop that can grow in partial shade and in sunlight. Despite the fact that the plant has useful medicinal properties, its toxicity and, accordingly, the danger in case of improper use should be taken into account.
Wintering horsetail: description
The color of the stems is gray-green. They are distinguished by the absence of branches and ribbing. The diameter of the stems can reach 10 mm.
A spore-bearing spikelet develops at the top of the stem. As for the leaf teeth, they are awl-shaped, black in color, but lightened bordering. They slope to fall when the shoot is just beginning to develop, remaining only on the upper nodes.
The plant has a long development cycle. Wintering horsetail (photo below) can reach 60 cm and even one meter.
The shape of the plant can be considered decorative. Moreover, the peak of decorativeness continues throughout the season. Sporulation begins in June and ends in July.
It is impossible not to note the cold resistance of this horsetail, its special resistance to low temperatures.
There are also decorative varieties of wintering horsetail - for example, with short lateral branches.
The main places of plant growth:
- Eurasian as well as North American meadows;
- river valleys;
- ravines.
Healing properties
Wintering horsetail contains silicic acid, all kinds of resins, nicotine alkaloid, as well as dimethyl sulfone and other useful substances. By the way, there are very few alkaloids in it.
Decoction made from this plant culture has long been used in recipes of traditional Chinese medicine, as well as in empirical therapy practiced on the Eurasian and American continents.
What diseases does the plant treat?
In particular, it helps to treat the bladder, hematurgy, chronic urethritis, kidney ailments, and problems with urinary incontinence. This herb has an astringent and hemostatic effect, so it is suitable for combating hemorrhoids, gonorrhea, whites, eye inflammations and regulates heavy menstruation.
Wintering horsetail is recommended as a painkiller in case of articular rheumatism, and is also used as a diaphoretic. It is indispensable in the treatment of tuberculosis, exudative pleurisy, diseases of the throat and bronchitis.
Even influenza and just migraine, it turns out, can be treated by resorting to the healing properties of this plant culture. The infusion made from it is used when treating jaundice, diarrhea and struggling with a lack of appetite.
The Indians, by the way, used wintering horsetail and its medicinal properties in the fight against tumor formations, ulcers, and inflammatory processes in the intestines and mammary gland. Doctors of Indochina resort to this plant as a cleanser for the stomach. And Korean doctors recommend it as a choleretic and diuretic drug, stop intestinal, uterine and hemorrhoidal bleeding, hemoptysis and relieve dysentery with it.
If it is necessary to remove puffiness or solve problems with urination, the described plant will also be useful.
Wintering horsetail: application
The plant has a large number of medicinal properties and, as a result, is actively used in medicine - both in the manufacture of pharmacological preparations and in the traditional treatment of various diseases.
A diuretic drug is made from it, in particular, to help treat kidney inflammation and relieve swelling. To prepare it you will need:
- wintering horsetail - 2 tablespoons;
- hot water - 1 cup.
The ingredients must be mixed, heated in a water bath for half an hour. Then the broth needs to be cooled and filtered. Take half a glass three times a day. Better an hour after eating.
Alcohol Tincture Recipe
In a glass bottle, you need to put fresh chopped wintering horsetail. A little less than half the container. Then add alcohol (60%) or vodka. Insist 20 days in a place protected from sunlight. Take tincture in the amount of 30 drops dissolved in water. You need to do this regularly - three times a day half an hour before meals.
The usefulness and amazing therapeutic properties of this plant culture are evidenced by the possibility of its use in the treatment of oncological formations.
Prescription for the treatment of oncology
For example, women with uterine cancer are recommended to drink a decoction for a month according to this recipe:
- A tablespoon of dried grass is poured with boiling water (just one glass is enough).
- The solution is closed with a lid, after which it is infused for a couple of hours.
- The infusion is drunk in the morning and evening in half a glass.
For throat cancer, you need a decoction made in the following way:
- Winter horsetail (in the amount of 3 tablespoons) is cooked in a liter of water for 10 minutes.
- Then the broth is filtered and honey is bred in it (in the amount of 4 tablespoons).
- The solution must again be brought to a boil.
- Remove from heat and give it time to cool.
The resulting broth many times a day should be gargled.
The healing properties of wintering horsetail make it an indispensable component for the manufacture of many products, thanks to which a person can successfully fight a number of diseases and improve his health.