Mother-and-stepmother

Tussilago farfara L.

Botanical characteristics. Family Compositae. A perennial herbaceous plant 10-25 cm high. The rhizome is creeping, with long roots. Stem is fluffy. Leaves form a rosette rosette, long-petioled, large, round-cordate, dentate, from above - green, smooth, from below - white-faced. Flowers - yellow baskets - appear in the early spring before the leaves bloom. Blossoms in March-April. Fruits - oblong achene - ripen in May-June.

Spread. Widespread plant. It occurs in most of Russia. It grows on damp meadows, in ravines, in fields and vegetable gardens, along the banks of rivers and lakes.

Used parts of the plant. Flowers and leaves.
The leaves of the mother-and-stepmother contain bitter glycosides (up to 2.63%), sitosterol, gallic, tartaric and malic acids, ascorbic acid (up to 5 mg%), saponins, inulin and dextrin.

Application. It is based on the anti-inflammatory, softening, expectorating, astringent, diuretic and diaphoretic action of the plant. It is believed that it is characterized by antisclerotic and spasmolytic action. It is recommended for hypertension and atherosclerosis.
Mother-and-stepmother is effective for acute and chronic respiratory diseases: ARVI, bronchitis, pleurisy, pneumonia, bronchial asthma and bronchiectasis, has been successfully used in the treatment of influenza.
As an expectorant, anti-inflammatory and cholagogue, the plant is prescribed for tuberculosis, inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and gall bladder, malaria and diathesis, kidney diseases and cystitis.
It is used externally in the form of compresses for burns, abscesses and boils, inflammation of the throat and oral mucosa, in the form of enemas and syringes.
Mother-and-stepmother enters the breast and sweatshops.
With a cold, the juice drawn from fresh leaves is drawn into the nostrils. Squeezed from a fresh sheet of mother-and-stepmother juice on a rag or just a sheet of it is applied to festering wounds, ulcers, abscesses. It is considered among the people a remedy that heals wounds.
M.A. Nosal, I.M. Nosal is recommended for hair loss and with profuse dandruff with itching three times a week to wash your head in a strong broth from a mixture of nettle leaves and mat-and-stepmother leaves, taken evenly.