Acid ranunculus is a herbaceous perennial weed of the ranunculaceae family. The stem is single, straight, branched, leafy, bare or slightly pubescent. The height is usually about 50cm. The flowers of the plant are in diameter from 1.5 to 2 cm, with five sepals and five petals of golden yellow color. Receptacle - hemispherical. Fruits are spherical multi-roots. Nuts oblique with a curved or straight nose. The leaves of the flower are palm-separated, with the upper ones almost sessile, the lower ones opposite on long petioles.
Propagated by ranunculus caustic seeds. The root system of the plant is fibrous; it consists of numerous subordinate roots. Flowering begins in late spring and ends in June. Buttercup flowers are ubiquitous: in Russia - in the European part (excluding the Far North) and in Western Siberia, as well as in Belarus and Ukraine. It occurs in glades, meadows, forest edges, clogs gardens, crops, pastures ...
In scientific medicine, buttercup is not used caustic, it is used only in traditional medicine. For therapeutic purposes, use stems, leaves, flowers, harvested during flowering.
Fresh grass of the plant contains ranunculin glycoside, which is broken down upon hydrolysis into protoanemonin and glucose. Due to the content of protoanemonin in its composition, the buttercup flower is an extremely poisonous plant. The name of the plant, derived from the word "fierce", characterizes its properties
In addition, fresh grass contains tannins, saponins, flavonoids (kempferol, quercetin and their glycosides), alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, vitamin C, carotene. Little fat was found in the fruits, carotenoids (flavoxanthin, alpha-carotene-epoxide, chrysantemaxanthin, taraxanthin) were found in the flowers.
Ingestion of caustic buttercup preparations provokes irritation of the digestive tract (hemorrhagic gastroenteritis). When exposed to the heart, a decrease in the amplitude and frequency of contractions of the heart is observed. In folk medicine, caustic buttercup is used as a locally irritating and narcotic, as well as for the treatment of wounds, burns, rheumatism, gout, headaches, with furunculosis and as a tonic.
When applied topically, protoanemonin can cause severe irritation of the larynx, nose, mucous membranes of the eyes and the skin around the eyes. In this case, lacrimation appears, pain in the eyes, cough, spasm of the larynx, outflow from the nose. With the introduction of the buttercup drug under the skin at the injection site, necrosis occurs - deep tissue destruction. At the same time, phenomena of general poisoning are also noted, namely: dizziness, weak and fast pulse, fainting.
Fresh buttercup grass in homeopathy is used for neuralgia, skin diseases, gout. An ointment from its flowers is used for the speedy healing of festering wounds, for some skin diseases and for colds, lubricating the neck when a sore throat. Cotton wool moistened with the juice of the plant can be applied to diseased teeth. In small doses, a decoction of flowers was used earlier for liver disease. The beneficial effect of plant preparations for cutaneous tuberculosis, due to the presence of a very significant amount of carotene in its leaves, has been established.
It has been experimentally established that in small doses, protoanemonin stimulates the central nervous system, increases the amount of hemoglobin and red blood cells and has a fungistatic and antimicrobial (against Escherichia coli and staphylococci) effect.
In veterinary medicine, caustic buttercup is used to treat advanced wounds in animals. A decoction is used as an insecticidal agent.
When using drugs and tinctures from buttercups, the most stringent precautions should be observed (especially with internal use). Even external use of ointment or infusion should be carried out under the supervision of a specialist phytotherapist.
Pregnant women, children, and nursing mothers are not recommended to use buttercup.