2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Rosen / Dictamnus Albus /, also known as rusaliyche and samodivsko flower is a perennial herbaceous plant of the mother-of-pearl family.
It is relatively rare, mainly on the southern slopes of the mountains, in calcareous, dry and sandy soils. It forms several stems with a height of about 90 cm. They end with a large cluster of flowers that have the shape of a spreading butterfly.
The colors of dew are white, red or pink. They release a large amount of essential oil, which strongly saturates the air. They are very beautiful and large, gathered in spike-like inflorescences. The dew fruit is a cracked box containing several black and shiny seeds.
It blooms in May, until June-July, and the seeds ripen in August and September. During this time, the boxes burst, firing the seeds 3 meters away. This is also the time when the plant releases the largest amount of essential oil.
The essential oil so saturates the air that if on a hot and sunny day a match approaches the herb, the air around it will burst into flame. Black smoke is emitted, but without dewy to suffer.
Propagated by dividing the bush, seeds or cuttings. Plants grown from seed bloom only after the second year. The division of the bush should be done in the fall or early spring. In one place the dew can grow for 8-10 years.
According to folk beliefs, divas wind their wreaths from dewy. The custom of walking on dew, which is performed on the eve of Savior's Day, is also widespread. Sick of various diseases and childless women go to meadows and forests, where the medicinal herb grows. They bring with them a new towel, a green pitcher, a loaf of bread, a cup of wine and a roast chicken.
They stay until the second rooster, and then silently get up, sprinkle water and secretly enter the village. Thus, our ancestors believed that they would recover, thanks to the action of dew. The root is still used today in homeopathy and modern folk medicine.
Dew composition
The roots of dewy contain bitter substances, saponins, essential oil, furocoumarins and alkaloids. Dew essential oil is highly toxic and smells unpleasant.
Collection and storage of dew
The usable part of the herb is the roots. They are removed in the fall, and the seeds after ripening, in August-September. Protective clothing should be worn when collecting roots, as dew has an irritating effect. The roots are dried in the shade. Properly dried herb should have a bitter taste, unpleasant odor and light brown color.
Benefits of dew
Rosen has a very good diaphoretic and diuretic effect. It also has antibacterial, antifungal and anthelmintic effects. Lowers the temperature and improves digestion.
Rosen is recommended by folk medicine for difficulty urinating, sand in the kidneys, problematic menstruation, inflammation of the renal pelvis, epilepsy, rheumatic diseases, white flow, parasites, gout and others. Calms the nerves.
Folk medicine with dew
Bulgarian folk medicine recommends the use of the root for kidney stones and sand, hemorrhoids, rheumatism, insufficient and painful menstruation, hysteria, worms, epilepsy.
Externally it is recommended for bath decoction for cracked legs and arms, as well as for rheumatism in young children. The crushed leaves and flowers mixed with olive oil are used to apply for thorns and rheumatism.
1 teaspoon roots of dewy boil for 5 minutes in 400 ml of water. Drink one glass of wine three times daily before meals.
Damage from dew
Although medicinal, dew is also a poisonous herb. For this reason, be careful during its collection, and before taking dewy a doctor should be consulted to avoid possible adverse effects.
If you collect dewy without protective clothing and gloves, itching and other unpleasant skin manifestations may occur as a result of the toxicity of the essential oil.
