Black alder (Alnus glutinosa.)
Sticky alder, Ukr.: wilha kleika.
Black Alder is an early flowering tree in the birch family. Black alder grows in the floodplains of the Seversky Donets and its tributaries, along the banks of lakes, in lowland swamps and forests in the northern parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
In medicine, the copalps (cones) are used, in the home - leaves and bark. The sapwood contains many tannins, alder leaves contain flavonoids, salicin glycoside, resin, essential oils, bark contains tannins and triterpenoids.
Black alder
Black alder has astringent, disinfectant, anti-inflammatory, styptic, diaphoretic and desensitizing properties.
It is used in medicine for acute and chronic enteritis, colitis, gastritis, diarrhea of non-infectious nature, dyspepsia, gastritis and peptic ulcer, in folk medicine - with dysentery, stomach aches, colds, pulmonary tuberculosis, gout, rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis, allergies, hemorrhoids, bleeding from the gums and nose.
In colds and joint diseases apply fresh young alder leaves in the form of dry baths, similar to birch leaves.
Alder leaves are used as a mild laxative. Decoction of cones and bark and infusion of fresh leaves are used to rinse the mouth and throat in diseases of the gums, throat, stomatitis, colds, and. also for lotions, baths for ulcers, wounds, scrofula, itching rashes, hemorrhoids, burns and dermatitis.
In Poland, alder bark is used for colds, fever, conjunctivitis, gargle for sore throat, bleeding. Externally use grated alder leaves for skin diseases (M. Polakowska).
In Belarus, a decoction of flower earrings alder drink and apply to sore spots in diathesis, children's eczema. A cold patient is put in alder leaves moistened with warm water, fresh leaves are applied to festering wounds and scabs, alcoholic tincture of alder flower earrings used for hemorrhoids and as a laxative (quoted from I. Д. Jurkiewicz).
Foot baths made from the leaves are believed to relieve fatigue during long walks on foot.
Methods of application:
1. 2 Art. spoonfuls of cones alder insist 2 hours in 250 ml boiling water - 1/2 cup 2-3 times a day as an astringent.
2. 2-3 sts. spoons or 15 g cones of alder boiled in 0.5 liters of boiling water 15-20 minutes on low heat - 15-30 ml 3-5-6 times a day before meals as astringent, anti-inflammatory.
3. Decoction of alder bark 15 g in 250 ml of water or its infusion for 2 hours - 15 ml 3-4 times a day as an astringent.
4. 20% tincture of cones or bark alder at 40% alcohol - 30 drops - 1/2-1 tsp. a spoonful three times a day as an astringent.
5. Decoction of 50 g cones of alder in 1 liter of water - drink hot 1 cup for prolonged diarrhea, dysentery and stomach pains 3 times a day (M. А. Nosal).
6. 20-30% decoction of cones or alder bark - for external use, similar to the decoction of oak bark.
Cones are harvested in the fall and winter (from November to February), leaves in May - June, bark - early spring.
In folk medicine, alder leaves are used fresh, cones are collected younger - before they crack.
White mistletoe (Viscum album L.)
Bird glue, "witch's broom," whirligig's nest, uterus.1 mela, 1 vilga, chortove pomelo. The seeds and the plant are poisonous. Е. А. Ladynina considers mistletoe to be mildly poisonous.
White mistletoe is an evergreen, dicotyledonous shrub in the strapwood family that parasitizes the branches of poplar, willow, hawthorn, linden, and other trees. White mistletoe is found in the Seversky Donets valley in Slavyanogorsk, Bogorodichnoye and in the forests of Luganshchina.
Medicinal raw materials are leaves and young leafy shoots (herb), collected from November to February, when white mistletoe is most active. In Bulgaria, it is harvested in the summer. The leaves contain alkaloid-like substances viscotoxin, viscerin, acetylcholine, choline, biological amines, alcohols, inositol, organic acids, vitamin C, wax, resins, saponins, sugars and others. Glycoside viscalbin, oxidase enzyme were found in fresh leaves.
The chemical composition of the plant depends on the host tree on which it grew. Some believe that mistletoe from willow, pear, and maple trees has the most activity. However, we did not find chemical composition and comparative experimental and clinical studies of mistletoe parasitizing different deciduous and coniferous trees in the literature.
It was found that mistletoe preparations from willow in the experiment reduce the excitability of the central nervous system, prevent or weaken seizures, inhibit the cardiovascular center, have a suppressive effect on the medulla oblongata, directly dilate the vessels of the lower extremities and liver. Newer evidence suggests that mistletoe preparations increase cardiac activity and slow heart rate, and have an inhibitory effect on cell division and DNA synthesis (B. Petkov). Fresh mistletoe is 100 times more toxic than dried mistletoe (cit. By P. М. Lashkarev).
It should be noted that the practical use of mistletoe in tumors is fraught with considerable difficulties. As established in the experiments of V. А. Chernov, one of the preparations of white mistletoe - necromelin - accelerated the spread and growth of metastases, and the other preparation - toxomelin - inhibited these processes (cit. By N. К. Fruentgen).
Now mistletoe is not used in scientific medicine of Russia. Earlier preparations of mistletoe were obtained from mistletoe - omelen, visculen, reviszen - for the treatment of hypertension, drug akofit for the treatment of various types of neuralgia, but now they have been discontinued. In a number of countries, mistletoe is used to produce oncostatic drugs: viscisate, plenozol, iscador, as well as mistletoe leaf juice (in Germany and China).
С. Я. Sokolov and E. А. Ladynina recommend mistletoe in hypertension stage I and II, menopause, atherosclerosis and kidney disease accompanied by nitrogen retention.
Н. И. Solomchenko in 44 patients with hypertension stage I and II applied 30% alcohol tincture of fresh leaves and thin stems of mistletoe, collected on hawthorn, and in 64% of them noted a positive immediate effect of treatment, expressed in the improvement of patients' well-being and reduction or normalization of blood pressure.
White mistletoe has been used in folk medicine since the time of Hippocrates, and in Germany it is still considered a sacred plant.
According to the ancient Roman scholar and writer Pliny (1st century AD. э.), the Gaulish priests-druids cut it with a golden sickle from the tops of oak trees and after solemn consecration handed it over to the people as a universal remedy (panacea) for all diseases (cit. By S. А. Tomilin).
In folk medicine in many countries, it is popular and still is - it is used for epilepsy, eclampsia, cramps, headaches, dizziness, various hypertension, stroke, neurosis, hysteria, migraine, shortness of breath, heart disease, stomach.
In the Far East they use ointment from leaves and ripe berries of mistletoe dyed for tumors (A. И. Schroeter). Mistletoe tea in the Belgorod region is drunk by weakened elderly people to raise the tone of life, and by people of any age for dizziness (A. П. Popov).
Due to the fact that mistletoe juice is difficult to obtain, some make a concentrated tincture as follows: raw mistletoe leaves cut, crushed on a meat grinder, fill a full jar and pour 40% alcohol, insist 2 weeks or more, then squeezed with a juicer, take 1/2-1 ch. a spoonful of water before meals.
М. А. Nosal offers for enemas for hemorrhoids and diseases of the rectum collection of 15 g of mistletoe leaves, herbs yarrow, nettle, water pepper, flowers deaf nettle (nettle) and oak bark - 10 g, boiled for 20 minutes in 1 liter of water, insist 30 minutes. This decoction can also be used for external application.
In diseases of the joints previously prepared ointment: 3 parts of mistletoe leaves boiled in two parts of lard for 1.5 hours, strained through the canvas, added 30 g of wax and 8 g of camphor. Then the ointment was rubbed on the joints and wrapped them warmly.
