The Turkish melissa plant is also called a snakehead. But on sale in pharmacies, it is found under the name Melissa. The Latin name is Dracocephalum, which means "dragon's head". In the article, we consider the grass of the snakehead: medicinal properties and contraindications, growth and collection, as well as consumption.
This spicy herb often grows on personal plots. It is used for salad dressing, when pickling cucumbers, tea is made with it and added to the steam room. Also known is the use in traditional medicine.
Growth
The snakehead, whose medicinal properties and contraindications are considered in the article, is an annual plant up to eighty-five centimeters high with white, purple or bluish flowers, collected in spike-shaped inflorescences. Seeds are brown or even black in color about 3 millimeters in length. 1000 seeds weigh almost two grams. As a weed plant is found in Russia, Ukraine, Mongolia, China and North America, the snakehead (photo illustrates how a flower crown can look like a dragon's head).
For harvesting, the upper ground part of the snakehead plant is cut. When to collect it? At the time when it blooms. At least 10-15 centimeters should remain to the soil. Below are coarse stems that are not suitable for medicinal use. In addition, brewing and chopping such grass will be completely inconvenient.
Drying
Also pay attention to the drying process. Grinding raw materials until this time is not recommended, as the dragonhead may lose its essential oils. The medicinal properties and contraindications of it in medicine have long been known. Raw materials are better preserved if dried in the shade, in a room with good ventilation. A hot dryer or stove will not work for this purpose, since in this case the essential oils will simply disappear, as a result of which, with a wonderful aroma, most of the beneficial substances that the snakehead contains will also go away. When collecting, it should be borne in mind that the volume of the workpiece will be reduced by about four times.
Act
Moldavian snakehead, although it is considered Turkish melissa, is not quite this plant. It has many healing properties. So, essential oil has a carminative, antiseptic and antispasmodic effect, and also has a delicate lemon flavor. At the end of flowering, the smell turns into sharper. The plant acts on the human body as a choleretic, diuretic and anti-toxic agent.
Internal application
In case of nervous overfatigue or overexcitation, female diseases associated with violation of the cycle or metabolism, Turkish lemon balm is used as an infusion. Prepare it as follows. Take a tablespoon of raw materials and pour 200 milliliters of boiling water. After a quarter of an hour, the remedy can be consumed. It is drunk three times a day in half a glass.
Sometimes the best option is a less concentrated infusion. It is done this way: one teaspoon of the grass is brewed in a teapot for brewing and drunk like regular tea before bedtime.
With bronchitis, inhalation is useful. To do this, take two to four tablespoons of raw materials, pour boiling water and breathe for ten minutes.
The herb snakehead has medicinal properties and contraindications. We sorted out the first a little, and the second is the risk of an allergic reaction. Therefore, before taking it, you should make sure that it will not occur.
Often the plant is used for genitourinary infections. For this, sitz baths are prepared. Take up to 200 grams of raw materials, insist for a quarter of an hour, then filter, cool and pour into a container. The procedure lasts about ten to fifteen minutes.
If the raw materials were cut before flowering, the effect of its use becomes slightly different, since there is little essential oil in it, but it contains many other active and useful substances that help the body overcome stress and also restore immunity after suffering colds or infectious diseases . At the same time, the central nervous system will not be excited, and blood pressure will not increase (such effects are observed, for example, when taking ginseng or aralia).
Consider a few more cases where a snakehead is used. The use in folk medicine is often recommended for diseases of the kidneys, gastritis and cystitis. For infusion, take three tablespoons of raw material and pour 200 milliliters of boiling water. The drug is insisted for several hours, after which it is drunk in a third of a glass three times a day before meals. At the same time, the work of the digestive tract improves, and the pressure increases.
With renal colic, a decoction is useful, the recipe of which is similar to the previous one. The only difference is that they insist on grass in a water bath.
Outdoor application
In addition to internal, external use is no less useful. So, tincture is good to lubricate diseased joints. Compresses have an excellent analgesic effect.
For headaches, snakehead oil helps, which is dripped into the aroma lamp and breathes. A very pleasant aroma can not only relieve a headache. After this procedure, fatigue passes, the mood improves. Among other things, the oil also has a bactericidal effect.
Snakehead: properties used in cosmetics
A very good oil can be prepared for massage. Loose raw materials are placed in the jar, which is poured with vegetable oil, and then insisted for three days. During this time, shake the jar frequently. Then the contents are filtered, squeezed and poured into a new portion of grass. The process is repeated three times. The result will be a fragrant oil, very useful for massage. Its action is light and soothing, it also helps with neuralgia and eliminates pustular formations.
Cooking Serpent Head
If you collect the plant during flowering, then it is added to fish broths, vegetable salads and meat dishes. Adding grass to the kvass, you will feel a special acidity and a light aroma reminiscent of lemon.
Also, the original taste will turn out if you add a snakehead to the cucumber marinade. The medicinal properties and contraindications before using the plant in cooking should also be taken into account and make sure that no one will have an allergic reaction.
Growing
It is not difficult to grow a plant in its summer cottage. It loves fertile soils in which there are no perennial weeds such as wheat grass, sow thistle or dandelion. The snakehead is cold-resistant, therefore it easily tolerates frosts. However, with prolonged precipitation accompanying cooling, he will die.
The plant is very fond of the sun. When it starts to grow, it prefers a lot of moisture, and when flowering it easily tolerates its absence.
In the country, the garden is dug up in the autumn and superphosphate is added. Nitrogen fertilizers are added in the spring, after the bed is dug up again.
No seed preparation required. They do not need to be soaked. Grass is sown in early May, and after two weeks shoots appear. Next, the plant should be protected from pests and diseases.
Conclusion
Thus, you can confidently add another healing plant to your home medicine cabinet. It will certainly come in handy for medicinal purposes. And if not, then the oil from the snakehead can be used to create a pleasant smell in the house.