Its other names: Golden Grass, Yellow Grass,
Cleansing Grass, Devil’s Milk, Chistuha, Swallow Grass, Witch
Grass, Warthog, Wart Grass, Bloodstone, Yellow Euphorbia,
Cow Grass, Chistoplod, Dog Soap, Gladishnik, Chistoplod.
The Latin name of the genus comes from the Greek word “swallow”.
From the earliest times it has been observed that the plant blooms with the first
arrival of the swallows and withers when they fly away.
The juice of this plant is used to treat skin lesions, as
well as to remove warts.
Celandine is a perennial herb of the
poppy family .
Branched root, taproot, with many-headed short
rhizome. Inside, the root is yellow, outside – brown-red.
The stem is hollow, erect, branched, ribbed, covered with inconspicuous
hairs, up to 100 cm high.
Leaves underneath are glaucous, green, pinnately divided with set aside
pairs of leaves. The leaves are dissected into lobed-crenate lobes.
The length of the leaves is up to 20 cm, the width reaches 9 cm. The upper leaves are
sessile, but the lower ones are on long petioles.
The flowers are yellow and bright on long pedicels, at the ends of the stem,
collected by umbrellas, almost 20 mm in diameter. The calyx consists of a
pair of sepals that fall off when the flower opens. Corolla is
correct, petals are rounded. Pistil with a thin short column
and a two-lobed small stigma.
The fruit is a pod-
shaped unilocular bivalve capsule 5 cm long and 3 mm wide. Seeds are dark brown, ovate,
shiny, with a comb-like pale appendage, arranged in two rows
in a capsule.
Celandine blooms all summer, four months, May – August, fruits ripen
in July-September, it all depends on the zone where they grow.
Distribution and habitats of celandine
Celandine is widespread throughout parts of the former Soviet
Union, less commonly found in Central Asia.
In the south of Ukraine, you can meet in small groups or rare
thickets. Distributed along the banks of the Dnieper in the Zaporozhye and Kherson
regions, as well as in the south of the Donetsk region. It is often found in the Crimea.
In the foothills and steppe zone, a small amount of
celandine grows .
Celandine grows in humus-rich soils. Inhabits coniferous,
larch-birch, broad-leaved and fir-spruce forests;
near rivers are found in the steppe region. In the mountains it grows almost to the
upper limit of forest growth. It grows on shady rocky rocks,
talus, slopes and along the banks of streams in river valleys, in bushes
in sparse forests, along roads, often inhabits burnt-out areas and clearings,
settles near dwellings, in gardens, on wastelands, vegetable gardens, on pastures
and as a weed plant …
Propagated exclusively by seeds. Celandine juice
has an unpleasant odor, usually burning, bitter.
Active substances that celandine contains: protopin,
berberine, chelidonine, coptisine, homohelidonin, stylopin, sanguinarine,
chelerythrine, spartein, saponins, ascorbic acid, flavonoids,
vitamin
A, citric acid, malic acid, succinic acid, coumaric
acid.
The plant is harvested during its flowering period, dried in the shade, in
attics, under a canopy or in dryers.
It is recommended to store raw materials in boxes or paper bags, in a
dry, cool and well-ventilated area. The storage period of
raw materials celandine is three years.
Growing celandine
Due to the fact that water infusion can fight diseases
and pests of the orchard, it is grown in gardens and vegetable gardens,
in summer cottages. Having such a plant at hand is very useful for both the body
and the garden. Before planting, the soil is prepared in the same way as for other
medicinal crops. The area should be protected from direct sunlight
and slightly damp. Seeds are sown superficially in early spring or
before winter. Seeds lose their life at temperatures below 30 ° C. The width
between the rows should be about 50 cm. Lightly sprinkle the sown seeds with
earth. With the first shoots, it is required to thoroughly weed, water
and loosen the soil.
Collect celandine carefully. The plant is cut to the
very root, smoothed with a fine layer. Dried, stirring constantly.
This herb is also found in various folk proverbs:
“Golden grass is the head of all herbs”, “Poison can become nectar,
and nectar can become poison.”
Useful properties of celandine
For medicinal purposes, the root, stem and herb of celandine are used.
But for further reproduction, flowers and seeds are also collected.
The plant is poisonous, contains alkaloids: chelerythrine, homohelidonine,
sanguinarine and protopin (about 20 species in total).
Helidonine is an alkaloid, similar in structure to morphine and papaverine.
The celandine contains particles of essential oil, bitterness, ascorbic
acid, flavonoids, carotene, saponins, organic acids: chelidonic,
succinic, citric and malic, resinous substances. Protopin reduces
the reaction rate of the autonomic nervous system, tones the muscles of the
uterus.
On pastures, it is not eaten by livestock, as it causes inflammation and
poisoning of the intestines and stomach.
Baths of celandine decoction are used for diathesis, metabolic
disorders, itching, scrofula, rash, psoriasis, scabies, purulent
skin lesions in young men, etc.
For psoriasis, skin tuberculosis, scabies, warts,
crushed leaves are used, mixed with pork lard
in a ratio of 1: 5.
Herbal infusions in folk medicine are used to treat lupus erythematosus.
Helps in the treatment of diseases such as: gout, cutaneous tuberculosis,
difficult healing wounds, rheumatism, lupus, scrofula, nasal polyps
, wart, lichen, callus, eczema, psoriasis, skin cancer, alveolar
pyorrhea, Trichomonas colpitis, stomatitis,
cervical erosion , cholelithiasis, hepatitis, cholecystitis,
colon polyposis, gastritis, with toothache.
For the prevention of cancer in folk medicine,
recipes are used :
Half a tablespoon of chopped herb of the plant is placed in an
enamel dish and poured with one glass of boiled water, the temperature of
which is from 18 to 25 ° C. Then insist on a water bath for
about 15 minutes, cool for at least 45 minutes, and filter. Use
the infusion of one tablespoon three times a day for three
days.
Baths and decoctions are used to strengthen hair, rubbing an
infusion of celandine and water into the hair .
Dangerous properties of celandine and contraindications
The homochelidonin in celandine is a local anesthetic
that is a strong convulsive poison.
Intra-infusion of a decoction or infusion of celandine exclusively as
prescribed by doctors and under the strictest supervision and control.
For persons suffering from bronchial asthma, epilepsy, angina pectoris,
celandine is contraindicated.
In case of an overdose of a drug from celandine, poisoning
with vomiting and nausea is observed, paralysis of the
upper respiratory tract is observed .
In case of individual intolerance to celandine, in no case do not
take any preparations containing celandine more than 15%
