Our ancestors could not use the medicines that can be found in a modern pharmacy. Plants saved them from various ailments. They knew the properties of every flower, tree, bush and blade of grass. Unfortunately, most of the recipes of traditional medicine are lost. But experts collect bit of information about various treatment methods bit by bit, adopting experience from herbalists in remote villages. Today we will get acquainted with an amazing plant called common ash. We learn about its places of growth and healing properties.
Common ash is a stately tree, capable of reaching a height of forty meters. The diameter of the stem of an adult plant reaches one meter. It is easy to recognize among thousands of other trees by its columnar trunk covered with a bark of dark gray color with pronounced cracks and a rounded crown. Ash leaves have a complex shape and consist of 9-13 elongated leaves. Flowers appear in early spring, at a time when the leaves are just beginning to open. At the time of flowering, the whole tree is covered with small panicles of white and light beige color.
Ash fruits are small single-seeded lionfish that are bundled. In one panicle can be from 3 to 86 fruits. In early October, seeds ripen from them, looking like flat and slightly narrowed brown nuts. Beautiful ash- tree can be found in Western, Southern and Central Europe, Belarus, Ukraine, Crimea and the Volga region. The plant is very fond of fertile and light soils with a small degree of moisture. Ash strongly reacts to changes in air temperature and is often damaged during spring frosts. This thermophilic plant takes root very poorly in the northern regions.
Common ash has heavy and hard wood, which is widely used in carpentry, furniture, car building and machine building. Tree bark is used as a raw material for the manufacture of dyes of blue, black and brown colors. It is also a substitute for quinine and an excellent tannin.
What is ash tree so valuable in traditional medicine for? The main components for the preparation of medicines are leaves and bark from young shoots. They include quercetin, mucus, tannins, essential oil, malic and ascorbic acid, vitamin C, tannins and glycoside. Ash leaves have been an official medicine in Swiss and German medicine for many years.
Preparations made using the bark and leaves of this amazing plant are an excellent hemostatic, anti-febrile and anti-inflammatory agent. Let's look at several popular methods of treatment:
- For the rapid healing of wounds of various origins, it is necessary to make pulp from the bark and leaves. Attach it to the damaged area and apply a bandage. Ligation is necessary 2-3 times a day.
- With inflammation of the ear, juice obtained from fresh leaves should be instilled into it.
- With frequent nosebleeds, as well as colds, it is necessary to take an infusion prepared from bark and leaves. For this, one and a half tablespoons of raw materials need to be poured with boiling water (400 grams) and insisted under a closed lid for about fifteen minutes. The finished product should be taken one hundred grams four times every day.
- In acute attacks of radiculitis, an infusion of boiling water (200 grams) and leaves (20 grams) should be prepared. The medicine is prepared within one hour and is taken three times a day for a tablespoon.
- In diseases of the upper respiratory tract in chronic form, it is necessary to prepare a decoction of forty grams of a mixture of bark and leaves per liter of water. Take the product should be one hundred grams up to three times a day.
Common Ash - This is a beautiful and valuable plant. It is recommended to increase its planting in settlements, as its foliage perfectly cleans the air of harmful impurities, and the root system fixes loose soils.