Lakonos American, whose photo is located below, is a large-sized herbaceous plant (grows up to three meters in height), which is often found on abandoned plantations, near fences, along roads, in bushes and many other weedy places. North America is its homeland , from where it was brought into Europe after the development of the mainland. Previously, grass was even grown as ornamental. In the southern Russian regions, the plant is wild, so it is now growing arbitrarily.
Lakonos American in most cases has several smooth, juicy, thick stems. Most often they are branched in the upper part and have a reddish color. The rhizome of the plant is multi-headed. The leaves are located on short petioles, tapering at the base and are pointed in the upper part. As for the flowers, they are small and combined into dense brushes. At first, their color is white, but over time it turns into red. Flowering time falls from June to September. The American Lakonos plant begins to bear fruit in August. Its fruits are juicy, shiny berries that turn black when ripe. They can be used for staining wines, but in large doses they can not be consumed, since this leads to serious poisoning.
Despite this, young shoots, leaves and roots of the plant are eaten both raw and boiled. Soups, salads and other dishes are prepared from them. At the same time, one should not forget about an important nuance - they are eaten in very limited quantities. In Asia and America, there are varieties of plants that are cultivated as vegetables, but in our country they can only be found in greenhouses.
All parts of a plant such as the American Lakonos have emetic and laxative effects. Previously, intense juice of dark red color was used in the food industry as a dye. In the eighteenth century, as noted earlier, in European countries it was added to wines to give their color the necessary shade. Widely used juice laconic and for confectionery. However, as soon as the plant was proved to be harmful to human health, the cooking product was no longer used.
Now, in some countries of Europe, the American varnish is allowed to be used for medical purposes. The fruits and roots of the plant are used in preparations that have an anthelmintic, laxative or emetic effect, and also help to improve metabolism and cure skin diseases. In folk medicine, tinctures are made on the rhizome of the American pacifier. Harvesting the roots for her is in the autumn. They are dug up and washed with cold water. Then a break should be made, the color of the inside of which should be yellowish-white. Otherwise, the use of the root is prohibited. Further, the drug is infused, and it can be used for rheumatism, tonsillitis, laryngitis and other diseases.
In no case should we forget that an overdose of drugs, which include the American Lakonos, leads to headache, vomiting, convulsions, paralysis of the nerve centers and can make breathing difficult. In the worst case, the heart and breathing stops, in other words - a fatal outcome.