2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Verbena / Verbena officinalis / is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Angiosperm family. Verbena originates from Europe. The stems of the plant are up to 1 m tall, quadrangular and branched. The leaves are opposite, the lower ones are deeply pinnate and the upper ones are entire or shallowly thick. The flowers are sessile, without stalks, arranged in thin classes.
They are pale pink or light purple in color, collected at the top of the stem. The calyx is about 2.5 mm long with sharp short teeth. The corolla is about 4-5 mm long, five-parted, in the upper part it is irregular, almost bilobed. The stamens of the plant are four. The fruit is dry, divided into four nuts. Verbena blooms from May to October. The plant is found throughout the country. It grows along roadsides, in crops, in weedy, grassy places.
History of vervain
In the past, people believed that the vervain had magical abilities. The vervain was a sacred plant of the Egyptian goddess Isis. The Celts also revered it as a sacred flower. The bards used it to receive divine inspiration and to see into the future. In Arabic medicine it is often used for bites from all kinds of animals and for the treatment of jaundice. Compresses from vervain have been recommended for tumors and ulcers, gurgling - to support teeth and gums.
The Druids believed that the willow was a magic plant and used it in many ceremonies. In Wales, vervain was called "poison to the devil" and was used to protect homes by smoking or hanging bundles of the herb. In incense rituals it is used to ensure material success and prevent bad thoughts.
It was believed that smoking above the bed or hanging over it protected from nightmares. Some rubbed their bodies with flowers to cure various diseases. Others used the flowers and scent of the plant to protect themselves from evil spirits, vampires, werewolves and other mythical creatures. According to popular belief, willows were used to heal Jesus' wounds after he was taken down from the cross.
Composition of vervain
The herb contains essential oil, alkaloids, carotene, glycosides - verbenalin and verbelin, tannins, bitter substances, turpentine, tannins and more.
Growing verbena
It can be said that the main problem in growing this beautiful flower is over-care, especially watering and over-fertilizing. If you do not remove the overblown flowers of the plant, it will stop flowering. It is necessary to prune the upper part of the stem (about 1/4 of the entire stem), which holds the overblown flower. Feeding verbena is easy, as it is fertilized only once, in the spring, when the plant reaches a height of 10 cm.
When planting, it is good to water abundantly until the plant takes root. Then the flower is watered only when the soil is dry.
The vervain needs 8 - 10 hours of direct sunlight every day, as well as well-draining soil, because otherwise it can mold.
For this purpose, the sunniest possible place in the garden is chosen for planting, as the individual plants are located at a distance of at least 25 cm from each other.
You can keep these charming flowers for next year by digging them out of the garden and transferring them to a box or hanging basket. In the spring, use cuttings and return the plant back to the garden.
If you want to catch the verbena from seeds instead of cuttings, keep in mind that it takes a long time for the seeds to germinate, so do not despair unnecessarily. The seeds are planted in late winter or early spring. Use peat pots, adding a little soil on top. Only when 3-4 leaves are formed, chop the healthiest plant and transplant it into other pots.
Before transplanting the plants outside, first take them out for a few hours to allow them to air-condition successfully. When attached, pinch the middle stem of each plant to begin growing like a shrub.
Collection and storage of vervain
Both the roots and the above-ground part of the verbena are used as medicines, but without the thickest woody stems. The leafy aboveground part is collected during flowering by cutting about 20 cm from the top. The collected stalks are dried in the shade or in an oven at a temperature of about 40 degrees. The stems break when bent when dry. The dried stalks are green in color, odorless and have a bitter taste.
Benefits of vervain
The vervain has anti-inflammatory and antipyretic action, which leads to heavy sweating, calms the nervous system. Therefore, it is traditionally used for fever, colds of the upper respiratory tract, sciatica, rheumatic neuralgic pain, headache, lumbago, periodontitis, toothache, facial nerve neuralgia and others.
It is used externally for the treatment of skin diseases. In case of inflammation in the oral cavity, a gargle with an extract of the herb can be made. Verbena has a calming effect on exhaustion, weakness, mental fatigue. It is used as a diuretic in fluid retention, to increase milk secretion in breastfeeding women.
The herb has potential as an antioxidant in endocrine and neurological problems. It can be used to treat melancholy or depression, hysteria or obsessions. Verbena tincture or tincture is used for insomnia. Verbena tincture, in combination with oat tincture, is used very successfully in nervous fatigue and depression. The vervain helps in the treatment of liver diseases, it can be useful in diseases of the gallbladder and jaundice.
In the form of a gargle, vervain can be used for caries. Folk medicine recommends it for headaches, sand and stones in the kidneys and bladder, anemia, whooping cough, malaria and others. Stems boiled in vinegar are needed for pleurisy, and boiled in water - for baths for rashes and lichens, for compresses for inflamed eyes, for gargling for bad breath. Pulp of fresh leaves helps to quickly heal wounds. Decoction of the roots is used for fever, headache, liver disease, scanty menstruation, atherosclerosis.
Folk medicine with vervain
According to our folk medicine decoction of vervain It is also used as an emetic (for vomiting), for sand and stones in the kidneys and bladder, for fever, malaria, headache, etc. The decoction is made from 2 tablespoons of chopped stalks and 500 ml of water. Boil for 5 minutes and after cooling, strain. Take 100 ml of decoction before meals 4 times a day.
For acne, Bulgarian folk medicine offers the following recipe: Boil 200 ml of water. Put an equal tablespoon of the herb in a bowl and pour boiling water. Allow the herb to simmer for ten minutes and strain. Take the decoction in the morning and evening before bedtime.
It is recommended vervain to be applied for a long time, and when the skin clears, you begin to gradually reduce the intake. Take breaks and drink the decoction for a short time, until gradually stop taking. Then you can drink this decoction for a week or two to maintain a healthy skin.
Damage from vervain
Like most herbs, vervain should not be used without a doctor's knowledge. Verbena intake is not recommended during pregnancy.
