Caragana mane: medicinal properties and contraindications

For deciduous shrub Karaganah mane people came up with a few more names, it is called chaetiger mane, camel's tail or just a mane. And inspired all these words form the branches of this plant, which botanists classifies to the family of legumes. In appearance, the caragana is quite unremarkable, but it has many useful qualities.

Chemical composition

Each part of the gluttonous Karagana contains a whole set of beneficial substances for humans.

1. Thus, the branches and leaves contain tannins, or tannins, which have a beneficial effect on digestion: help the body solve all intestinal problems, remove various toxic deposits and better absorb useful substances.
2. The roots of the plant are rich in saponins. A glycoside, these complex compounds have an expectorant effect, stimulating the respiratory system and enhancing the mucus production, which leads to a speedier cleansing of the bronchi and the elimination of the infection. In addition, saponins have diuretic and laxative effects, stimulate the synthesis of hormones and help cleanse the blood of cholesterol that forms plaques on the vascular walls.
3. The above-ground part of the plant contains a number of useful substances, and the first in this series of flavonoids - quercetin, myricetin and isoramnetin, distinguished by their ability to activate the enzymes involved in digestion. In addition, they are excellent antioxidants and anticarcinogens. They help supply tissues and organs with oxygen, strengthen blood vessels and relieve edema, have immunomodeling, vasoconstrictor and vasodilator effects.

Such components of Karagana mane, as alkaloids, in overdose are dangerous by the negative impact on the mental state, but at the same time in permissible doses perfectly perform the function of protecting the human body from harmful bacteria that cause disease. They participate in the processes of development of the nervous, cardiovascular and respiratory systems. These substances show effectiveness in the treatment of malignant tumors.

Present in the branches and leaves of the plant coumarins have a whole list of favorable actions, in particular kill pathogenic flora - microbes, fungi, bacteria and viruses, so they can be used to treat both bacterial pathologies and viral diseases. Coumarins are characterized by the ability to dilate blood vessels, soothe pain, remove toxins and impurities, and soothe frayed nerves. In addition, coumarins are considered a good remedy for cancer problems because they inhibit the development and division of cancer cells.

Another ingredient of caragana is organic acids. These are recognized antioxidants. In addition, they actively improve intestinal function by slowing the development of putrefactive bacteria, reducing fermentation in the large parts of the digestive tract, stimulating its peristalsis, thereby normalizing stool, as well as "spurring" the formation of gastric juice.

Sugars are also part of the plant, they give the body energy.

The next important component of the medicinal plant is sterols. Their deficiency in the human body very quickly makes itself felt by the weakening of the immune system, a significant deterioration in the condition of teeth, nails and hair. With a lack of sterols a person feels exhausted, the nervous system becomes depleted, which manifests itself in mood swings or complete apathy, the first signs of early, premature aging appear. The cause of atherosclerosis can also be a lack of sterols.

Of the vitamins in the composition of the caragana should be noted carotene and ascorbic acid.

How it looks and where it grows

At first glance, it appears that the upward growing, slightly curved, saber-like, and not branching trunks are densely studded with leaves. On closer inspection, on the dark gray branch-trunks, in addition to the young leaves, you can see the often arranged, already dead petioles from leaves left over from the previous year. They are sharp, like thorns, sometimes reaching a length of 7 cm.

The leaves on the "underside," that is, on the underside, are pubescent and whitish, while on the front side they are densely green. Small leaves, arranged in pairs of 4-6, are arranged in larger leaves.

The single flowers of the plant are surrounded by bracts, which, like the leaves, are covered with white hairs. The flowers themselves have bell-shaped calyxes, which are usually pink, yellowish or white in color and not too big in size, about 3 cm. The plant flowers in June or early July, then ripens into a fruit, a hairy pod, up to 4 cm long and 5 to 7 mm wide, with a stiff and sharp tip. Inside the bean are round seeds, which ripen in August, by which time they have become brownish-brown.

In natural conditions on the territory of the Russian Federation the plant can be found in Buryatia, Eastern Siberia - in Krasnoyarsk Territory and Transbaikalia, in Altai, in Sayan Mountains, in Yakutia, in the Republic of Tyva and in the Far East. It also grows in Russia's neighboring territories - in Central Asia, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Bhutan, Nepal and India, also in a number of North American states.

In height the Karaganas grows from 30 to 100 cm. It prefers sunny places and does not tolerate shade. It grows in dry and stony, sandy or clay soils. It usually grows on slopes of hills, mountains, in high mountain steppes, coniferous forests, in thickets of bushes, in pebbles near rivers. The plant is noted for its extraordinary endurance and propensity for life, and revives after drought.

Caragana mane is considered a rare and endangered plant, so it is included in the Red Books of several regions, including the Irkutsk and Buryatia regions.

Species

According to various sources, the genus Karagana has from 70 to 80 species. Caragana mane is considered one of the tallest, it usually grows up to 1 m. And it is the only one of all the species used for medicinal purposes. Some folk healers even specially grow it in their homestead plots to use it for medicinal purposes.

But it is much larger than the tree-like caragan. This species can be both a deciduous shrub and a tree, reaching a height of 4 to 7 m. In the XIX century it was called pea, pea acacia, Siberian acacia. Its area of growth - the forest territories of the Altai, Sayan, the Southern Urals, the Caucasus, including regions of Georgia. It is not difficult to meet it on the territory of Central and Eastern Kazakhstan. In contrast to the mane, the tree-like elm is quite tolerant of light shade, so it grows on the edges of forests, in parks and undergrowths.

This type of Karaganah is more ornamental thanks to its rather large yellow flowers, during the flowering period the leaves are literally not visible because of them, so the plant looks entirely yellow. During this period, all the bees from the surrounding area flock to the shrub, this plant is valued by beekeepers and borers for its honey-growing qualities. And because of its ornamental qualities, it has taken root in gardens and parks, gardeners have perfectly learned how to cut it, and it turns out beautiful dense hedges. And such hedges can even strengthen slopes with their roots.

There is another sphere of application of this species of Karaganah: thanks to the strong and flexible wood, its branches are used for weaving baskets and various crafts, brooms and brooms are made of it.

Scythian Karaganagana. This type of plant is not tall and does not exceed 40 cm. It is less prickly than its congeners and much more branched, and its branches are thin and flexible. It grows in the south of Eastern Europe - in Moldova, the Black Sea regions and the Lower Don. As a soil, it usually chooses stony lime rocks, but also occurs on chernozem and soils with a high amount of salts. It tolerates drought well, but is highly susceptible to insect pests, so it is not widespread.

Shrubby Caragana grows as a globular shrub, reaching 2 m in height. Its bark is very distinctive in appearance: it is yellowish-gray or greenish-gray and the entire bark is entirely covered with thin light-colored, almost white stripes. It is fairly common throughout European Russia, as well as in Siberia, the Far East, Central Asia and some states of America. It usually occupies considerable areas where it grows in a continuous pattern, preferring forest and forest-steppe zones and mountainous areas.

Ussurian Karaganah is also a bushy plant, but it is more compact than the shrub species. It does not rise higher than 1 m. Its flowering process is very interesting: at first, the yellow inflorescences turn almost red. In natural conditions it is found in one place - on the territory of Russia, in Primorye.

Dwarf caragana. Its name speaks for itself: this bush with thin delicate twigs can not be higher than 1 m. It blossoms for a long time, for almost four months - from May to the end of August. Another of its features is its shiny, smooth golden bark and leaves, which have a lighter shade than those of its relatives. Its homeland is the Altai Territory, where this shrub occupies the rocky mountain slopes along mountain streams.

Caragana prickly. This shrub is of medium height, about 1.5 m. Its branching shoots are dotted quite often with prickles up to 5 cm long. It grows on stony soils, sands, solonchaks, it is found in the mountainous regions of Altai Krai, in the Sayan Mountains, in the southern territories of Buryatia, settles on stony slopes or rubbly scree slopes.

Caragana orange. A small plant, not more than 1 m in height. Characterized by the fact that during the blooming of the leaves, they are yellow-green in color, and then acquire a natural green tone. The flowers of this species of Karagana are yellow with an orange hue, hence the name. It forms dense thickets on river shingle banks in northwest China and in the Tien Shan mountains. Gardeners and landscapers use orange caragana for decorative purposes.

Karaganah Turkestan varies in height from one meter to 2 meters. Externally, it is very similar to the mane, except for the color of the bark: the Turkestan has a clear green hue. Wood craftsmen use the hard, dense and heavy wood of this species for incrustations and also make lathes from it. Turkestan Karaganah grows high in the gorges: in the Pamirs and Altai, in the west of the Tien Shan, and in the northern and western regions of China.

Karagana tree weeping (pendula). It is a species obtained by gardeners by grafting the shrub, which has flexible graceful branches, onto a bole. It is extremely beautiful both in May, when it is yellow with flowers, and in winter, when its branches are covered with a cap of snow. Weeping caragan can tolerate shade and is not capricious with respect to the composition of the soil.

Lorberg's woody caragan is another species obtained through the work of gardeners. It is considered a shrub, but is most often cultivated on a stem, growing up to 3 m. Its crown is very bowl-like, with flexible branches hanging down around the edges. The leaves of Lorberg's caragana are long and thin, like the needles of a larch. On the whole, the crown looks light and airy, there is almost no shade from it. For its general appearance, this plant is sometimes called the northern palm tree.

Gathering and storage

As medicinal raw materials are used all parts of the caragana grivasta - and above-ground, and the root. The plant is harvested at any time of year, even in the winter months. But the most valuable is considered to be the raw material, collected in spring, in those two weeks when the caragana blooms, and in autumn, when it has accumulated additional useful substances.

The root is taken by slightly digging up one side of the plant, cutting off a small piece and burying the hole back. You should treat the root with special care, because it is the root that determines whether the species, which is in the Red Book, will continue to grow or die. On the root you can see small white balls on the spine. This is normal, in them the caragan accumulates nitrogen. Such a root is absolutely healthy and quite worthy to become a medicine. It is shaken off the ground, washed thoroughly under running water and spread out in a thin layer in the shade in a draught on the bars, so that the raw material was blown and dried on all sides simultaneously.

There are two opinions on how to collect twigs with leaves. Some herbalists say not to use metal tools, others carefully cut with a secateurs or knife, setting aside the ground so as not to harm the root. Then the cut raw material is tied into small bundles, which are hung on ropes in a room where it is warm, dry and there is a good breeze.

Collecting the plant with your own hands, you can be sure that this is the right caraganza mane, not the yellow acacia, which unscrupulous sellers sometimes offer in the markets.

Medicinal properties of the plant retain a year - provided that it was stored in a dry place in a cotton sack.

Medicinal properties of elm tree

Official medicine does not use the caragana mane, and it is not included in the Russian pharmacopoeia because of the lack of study, as well as the lack of data on clinical trials. But it has long been used by traditional Tibetan medicine, as well as by folk healers. For its wide range of medicinal properties and strong health-promoting effect, the Mongolians called this plant the golden caragana.

1. In Tibet, since ancient times, this medicinal plant has been used as an antipyretic, as well as a blood thinner. For herbalists Buryatia and Irkutsk region caragana is indispensable for the treatment of inflammatory processes of different origin, the simplest of which are inflammations of the oral cavity, gums and throat, skin and mucous membranes of the genitals. Outwardly, it is used for fistulas, severe bruises, treated in this way skin diseases - such as eczema, pustular rashes, acne, as well as neurodermatitis and dermatosis. Caragana will not only eliminate these problems, but also prevent the formation of scars and scars on the site of wounds.
2. Flu, SARS and acute respiratory infections, sore throat and tonsillitis - all these diseases, which people, far from medicine, are used to associate with colds, are also treated by caragana.
3. The anti-inflammatory and wound-healing abilities of the culture in the treatment of gynecological diseases are excellent. With the help of the healing plant cope with cervical erosion and benign masses in the uterus, adnexitis and endometriosis, menorrhagia, it is appointed to get rid of celiac ulcers, restore regularity of menstruation and to solve other delicate female problems. In particular, folk healers prescribe medicines prepared from this plant to women for early pregnancy, as they not only help to get rid of sluggish inflammatory processes, which are the cause of infertility, but also adjust the hormonal balance in the female body.
4. In addition to its anti-inflammatory properties, Karagana mane has anti-tumor and analgesic effects, as well as a radioprotective effect - that is, the ability to protect the body from the side effects of cancer treatment. The plant is especially effective for tumors of the genital, digestive and respiratory systems. Therefore, compositions based on Karagana grivasta are recommended as an adjunct to the main treatment with pharmaceuticals, prescribed by the doctor oncologist. Experienced oncologists, as a rule, welcome the use of infusions from this medicinal shrub during intensive cancer treatment, when undergoing courses of radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
5. The root of the plant is recommended for the establishment of the blood circulation system - with its help you can reduce blood pressure and improve blood flow.
6. The medicinal plant is recommended for diseases of the digestive tract associated with mucosal disorders and inflammation - such as stomach ulcers or duodenal ulcers. In some cases, the treatment is so successful that it is possible to stop the development of the disease in its initial stages only by means based on Caragana grivasta, without pharmacy pharmaceuticals.
7. Caragana is appointed to relieve fatigue, lift spirits and restore efficiency. And thanks to the sedative effect of the plant is useful for people of intellectual work and athletes who are experiencing high mental and physical overload. It raises the immune system and improves the body's ability to resist disease, which is especially valuable in the spring and fall periods of colds and viral diseases, can soothe toothaches.
8. Experiments conducted by scientists on animals have also revealed hepatoprotective abilities of caragana. It is therefore considered promising to continue studying this medicinal plant as a cure for hepatitis or cirrhosis of the liver.

Caragana mane in folk medicine

For a number of problems - for example, such as wounds and abrasions - compositions of cycads are used only externally, with a stomach ulcer - only internally. And for some diseases, herbalists recommend a combination of internal and external application of remedies prepared on the basis of caragana.

From sciatica

Put in a glass of water 2 large spoonfuls of finely chopped twigs of cycad, put on the stove and over low heat to boil for 4-5 minutes, then infuse one hour. Strain and drink before eating a quarter cup 3 times a day. In addition to sciatica, the infusion helps to calm the nerves, establish a normal sleep, lower blood pressure in hypertension.

With colds

Grind 10 g of caragana roots, pour them into a glass of water and put on the fire. Boil over low heat for 5-6 minutes, infuse an hour and strain. It is recommended to drink for colds, acute respiratory infections and flu according to the scheme: 3 times a day regardless of the meal - a couple of tablespoons. Continue treatment for at least a week.

With sepsis

The recipe is very similar to the previous one, but instead of the root you should take branches of caragana. 10-12 grams of raw materials pour 200 ml of water, bring to a boil and boil for 7 minutes, then insist an hour, strain and drink three times a day before meals - 2 tablespoons. It helps with sepsis as an anti-inflammatory agent, is used as an adjunct to the main drug treatment.

From stomatitis

You need 2 large spoons of crushed roots of the healing plant pour 300 ml of boiling water. Under a tightly closed lid, insist for two hours, wrapped in a warm towel. Strain and use to rinse the mouth with stomatitis, gingivitis. You can use this composition to treat laryngitis, pharyngitis and sore throat. To gargle the throat, you need to heat the infusion until warm, gargle every half hour for at least three days.

As a local remedy, it is used for problems of inflammatory nature in the genitals, as well as to eliminate skin problems.

From neglected hemorrhoids

Prepare a decoction of cypress: pour into a standing on the fire ladle with 250 ml of boiling water 1 tablespoon finely chopped twigs. Boil for 10 minutes, infuse for an hour and a half, wrapping the pot with a scarf for warmth. Strain and divide the resulting liquid into 3 portions, which drink, distributing evenly for the day. At the same time you can make lotions from this decoction: moisten a soft cotton cloth in a healing liquid and apply to a sore spot for 15-20 minutes.

To strengthen the heart muscle

The sprigs of the plant sliced or chopped very finely. Take 2 tablespoons on top of this raw material, add it to a mug with 250 ml of water and bring to a boil over low heat. When it boils, simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the mug from the fire, wrap in a warm towel and infuse for an hour. Strain and take inside once a day for 50-60 ml, preferably at night. It is necessary to drink the remedy and immediately go to bed, so that after taking the remedy you should not eat anything for 8 hours. This remedy will help not only to strengthen the heart muscle, but also to reduce blood pressure in hypertension and to establish sleep, disrupted by stress. The duration of treatment is selected individually for each patient as needed.

To treat skin problems

You need to prepare an alcoholic tincture of caragana, for which in 100 ml of good 40 ° vodka add crushed raw material (10 g). Insist in a warm and dark room in a closed opaque ceramic or glassware for 8 to 10 days, stirring the contents 2-3 times a day. To lubricate acne, ulcers or skin affected by dermatitis, dilute the tincture with water in the ratio 1:10. The same diluted remedy will help with angina, stomatitis, gingivitis or periodontal disease, you need to rinse your throat or mouth after every meal and again at night.

Infertility.

If the cause of infertility is a slow inflammatory process, you need 2 tablespoons of dried and finely chopped roots of Cypress grivasta pour 300 ml of boiling water and insist 2 hours. Then strain the infusion and use it for irrigation. It is better to be treated on weekends or during vacations at home, because repeat the procedure 4-5 times a day. The course of treatment is 10 days.

Antipyretic remedies.

Infusion of caragana can be used for colds, if the temperature has risen. It should be prepared as an ordinary tea: rinse a teapot with boiling water, pour into it 2 tablespoons of medicinal raw materials (you can use both roots and branches). Once infused for 20-30 minutes, you can pour and drink in a snack with honey.

If the temperature is very high, you can add lingonberries (10-15 pieces) or goat willow bark to the kettle when brewing. The fever will fall quickly.

Types of medications

Infusion

1. For a stomach ulcer. An infusion made from 10 g of dry crushed twigs of caragana and 200 ml of boiling water will have a healing effect. Pour the medicinal plant, infuse for half an hour in a water bath, then immediately strain. Take 1 tablespoon after a meal (3-4 times a day).
2. From heartburn. Crush 2 tablespoons of dried leaves. Pour 250 ml of boiling water and leave for 2 hours under a tight lid to infuse. Then filter thoroughly and drink 2 tablespoons 2 to 3 times a day.

Tincture .

From hemorrhoids. For 100 ml of alcohol 70% strength take 10 grams of dried finely chopped twigs of cypress. Pour the healing plant in alcohol and insist in a dark glass container for 10 days. Drink a quarter of an hour before a meal, 30 drops diluted with a little water.

You can use the tincture to gargle the mouth, smear it on the skin, if it is affected by acne, ulcers, dermatitis. To do this, dilute the product with water in a ratio of 1:15.

Decoction .

For hypovitaminosis. To prepare the broth will need dried bark and roots of the plant. 10 g finely chopped raw materials pour a glass of just boiling water and put on the fire. Boil the composition for 8-10 minutes, leave it to infuse for 3 hours. Strain. Before taking the remedy, it must be heated to be warm. Treatment regimen - half a glass 2 times a day regardless of meals. Drink the liquid in small sips.

Contraindications for use

There are no special contraindications for taking grivasta caraga. It may not be suitable for some patients because of the appearance of allergies, although such cases are extremely rare, or individual intolerance to the substances that are components of the plant.

Due to the fact that compositions based on the medicinal plant reduce blood pressure, when using decoctions, infusions and tinctures internally, patients with hypotension should be careful.

With the reception of Karagana is recommended to wait for pregnant women and nursing mothers - in order to avoid the appearance of allergic manifestations in babies.

In any case, before starting treatment, it is necessary to consult with your doctor.

Photo Caragana