Loosestrife healing, application and own cultivation

The Common Purple Loosestrife - A Forgotten Medicinal Plant

The blooms of the purple loosestrife glow purple from riparian zones and make us forget that we are in Germany and not in a tropical rainforest. Snails spurn it, it is immune to fungal diseases, rare wild bees need it as food, it helps in the healing of wounds and against eczema. Nonetheless, the plant was forgotten.

contents

• The Common Purple Loosestrife - A Forgotten Medicinal Plant
• The bloody willow
• An old crop
• Purple loosestrife as a pointer plant
• A garden plant
• biology
• Ecological value
• Occurrence
• Application of loosestrife as a medicinal plant
• Loosestrife tea
• External use in skin diseases
• Cultivation of loosestrife

The bloody willow

Weiderich means "grayling" and refers to the shape of the leaves. The genus name "blood" has two origins. On the one hand, the ancient Greeks used it to name the "blood-red" flowers of the plant, on the other hand, ancient humans already knew about the hemostatic properties.

Purple loosestrife adorns the garden with purple flower spikes. (Image: ksch966 / fotolia.com)

An old crop

The Weiderichgewächs loves moist clay soils, it grows in nature on wet meadows and in the edge zone, but also in shallow water. Waterlogging is not a problem for him, but he also survives when the waters dry out in the summer.

Today it graces garden ponds such as marsh bed, but our ancestors practically used it. The plant contains many tannins, and so it was used to tan animal skins and to impregnate wood. As it grows in waters, fishermen in particular use it to make their ropes durable.
In everyday medicine, people use them for menstrual cramps, inflammation in the vagina, eczema, skin rash, but above all to help bleeding wounds. Loosestrife has an astringent effect and kills bacteria.

Purple loosestrife as a pointer plant

Bluewater is one of the most important insects ever and an important pointer plant in nature. If, in late summer, the trenches on the dirt road light up pupurally, then this is an indication that there is a habitat for many animal and plant species here.

A garden plant

The Weiderichgewächs can be excellently planted in the garden. In late summer, the "exotic" inflorescences are a lighthouse in the garden. In the "normal" bed with a dry surface, it should be in the shade, more suitable are swamp beds, the edges of a garden pond, swimming ponds and mini-biotopes in the humidifier.

biology

The common loosestrife is up to 2 meters high and up to 1.5 meters wide. From its root network grow several dozen polygonal stems. The shoots in the water expand as tissue and supply the roots with oxygen.

The leaves are opposite or alternate on the stems and are lanceolate, the smaller leaves have the shape of the heart.
The herbaceous plant flowers from June to September in spike-shaped inflorescences, each of which contains up to more than one hundred flowers. The pollen is green and big or yellow and small.

Pollination works because the long-styled scars have the longest, the short ones have the shortest papillae. A single loosestrife produces up to 3 million seeds containing mucous hair. These attach to waterfowl and spread so widespread.

The Weiderichgewächs is one of the most important insect pastures and supplies bees, hoverflies and butterflies with nectar. (Image: hjschneider / fotolia.com)

Ecological value

Hoverflies, wild bees and butterflies visit the plant to eat its nectar. The caterpillars of the night-peacock's eyes feed on it.

Occurrence

The common purple loosestrife grows in Eurasia, in North America it is introduced as a neophyte. He inhabits wet, humid swamp soils. It is not a kind of open water, but typical of temporarily flooded sites, such as riparian forests.

Application of loosestrife as a medicinal plant

The "blood pasture" contains pectins, resins and essential oils en masse, as well as tannins in quantities, vitexin and salicarin, as well as provitamin A, calcium and iron.

The tannins have an astringent and bactericidal effect. They drive the urine and silent blood flow. Traditionally, the plant has been used for diarrhea, internal bleeding, external wounds and excessive bleeding during the period.

The plant helps with intestinal infections and upset stomach by its antibacterial agents, it is also a good home remedy for sore throat.
A decoction of loosestrife should help against vaginal infections, skin diseases and sore sores. Either a tea made from flowers and leaves or a hot bath with about a handful of purple loosestrife serve three liters of water.

Loosestrife tea

For a tea we pour a handful of dried flowers with a liter of boiling water and let the mixture draw for 30 minutes. Please do not use sugar, this weakens the tannins. In case of diarrhea, we drink 4-5 cups a day, with gum bleeding we gargle several times a day.

Gargle with loosestrife tea helps against sore throat. (Image: RFBSIP / fotolia.com)

External use in skin diseases

To apply the plant externally, cook two handfuls of dried flowers on low heat for 20 minutes, then pour off the water and let it cool. You dab off the inflamed areas on the skin. Put the liquid in a clean container in the refrigerator and boil it once a week.

Cultivation of loosestrife

If you grow the Weiderichgewächs, you have every late summer a large supply of flowers that can be dried easily. Do not take any plants of nature, you get the loosestrife in nurseries. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)