Highlander pepper (water pepper) - polygonum hydropiper l.

Buckwheat family - Polygonaceae

Горец перечный (водяной перец) Горец перечный (водяной перец)

Botanical characteristics. Refers to the buckwheat family. Annual herbaceous plant with a knobby erect stem up to 60 cm high. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, regular, entire, long-pointed at apex. Small greenish-pink flowers are collected in long spiky brushes. The whole plant has a characteristic bitter-peppery taste. Blossoms in June-August. The fruit is a three-faceted grain, ripens in August-September.

Spread. Widespread plant. It grows on the whole territory of our country in wet meadows, along the banks of rivers and lakes, like a weed.

Used parts of the plant. Aboveground part of the plant.
The aerial part of the plant contains flavonoids, glycoside polygopiperine, essential oil, etc.

Application. In folk medicine as a means, cleansing wounds and absorbing hardening. In the Middle Ages Paracelsus used the herb of water pepper externally as an analgesic and irritant, replacing mustard plasters. In folk medicine is considered an antitumor plant.
The herb of water pepper has a strong hemostatic effect, it is used inside with uterine and hemorrhoidal bleedings. It is also used as an external remedy in the form of baths, irrigation and ointments.
M.A. Nosal and I.M. Nosal recommends ways to treat hemorrhoids, according to which 400.0 grams of fresh herbs of water pepper are cooked for 15 minutes in 2 liters of water, insist 20 minutes, filter, add 2 cups of hot milk to the broth. Warm broth poured into the pelvis and sit in it for 15 minutes, then wash with warm water. This method is performed after cleansing the intestine.
Highlander pepper - a good tool for the destruction of pests of garden crops. Prepare it as follows: 1 kg of grass pour 2-3 liters of water, bring to a boil and insist for several hours, covering something warm. Then filter, add water to 10 liters, mix and use for spraying plants.

Contraindications. The plant is weakly poisonous.

Preparation. To ingest 1 tablespoon of herbs, insist with 0.5 liters of boiling water - a daily dose.