2025 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2025-01-23 10:18
Camel thorn or Cnicus benedictus is an annual or biennial plant of the Compositae family. The root of the herb is vertical and branched. The stem of the camel thorn is strongly branched, partly recumbent, reaching 40 cm in height. The leaves of the plant are oblong-lanceolate, toothed, prickly.
The basket is large, surrounded by the uppermost leaves of the stem. The inner sheath leaflets end in a pinnate thorn. The outer covering leaves are large, grassy and prickly. The flowers of the camel thorn are yellow. Its fruits are cylindrical.
Camellia comes from West Asia, North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, but is also widespread. In Bulgaria the plant is found in the dry grassy and stony places in the southern part of the Struma Valley, the southeastern part of the country, the Eastern Rhodopes, Strandzha and others.
History of a camel thorn
The camel thorn or as the plant is popular in the English-speaking world - a blessed thorn, has a centuries-old history of purposeful cultivation for medicinal purposes. Proof of its popularity can be found even in the work of Shakespeare, who praises the herb in "A lot of noise for nothing."
The history of camel thorn in herbal medicine is dramatic and glorious. Information about him dates back to antiquity. The ancient Greeks, and even the Romans, used the plant in spells and curses, as did nettles and thorns.
Camel thorn seems to be one of the most famous and widely used herbs in the Middle Ages. Old folklore states that the herb protects against irritation, anxiety, evil spirits and witches. At the same time, the herb has been undeservedly declared a plant of evil as it grows in cemeteries.
Martin Luther, leader of the Reformation Religion and a supporter of natural medicine, refuted this claim about the herb, insisting that the decoction of camel thorn has analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. It turns out that camel thorn has been used traditionally in countries such as England, Russia, China and Africa.
Composition of camel thorn
The stems contain the sesquiterpene lactone knicin, a significant amount of mucous substances, tannins, resins, traces of nicotylamide, malic acid, traces of essential oil, guerrilla alcohol, various mineral salts. The plant also contains an enzyme that crosses the milk. Hence its other name - intersection.
Growing camel thorn
The camel thorn it is not a pretentious plant and can grow almost anywhere, but it feels best in deep and not too moist soils, in sunny and sheltered from the winds.
The plant is propagated by seeds, which are sown in early spring in flower beds or directly in the fields, at a distance of 30 cm row by row. It is necessary to keep the soil free of weeds so that the plant can grow normally.
Collection and storage of camel thorn
The camel thorn blooms from July to August. The herb is harvested from June to July, using the stems and ground leaves of the plant. These parts of the herb are picked when the first flowers crack. Leafless leaves should not be torn.
The collected material is cleaned of accidental impurities during picking and dried in ventilated rooms or in dryers at temperatures up to 50 degrees. From 4 kg of fresh stalks 1 kg of dry ones is obtained. Dried camellia stalks must have retained their natural appearance. Fresh drugs have an unpleasant odor, which disappears after drying. The taste of the plant is very bitter.
Benefits of camel thorn
The camel thorn supports the functions of the stomach, enhances bile secretion, improves digestion. It is also credited with the ability to facilitate the excretion of uric acid. It has been experimentally established that camellia improves blood circulation in some vascular areas, stimulates the heart, calms the central nervous system. The drug also helps with hysteria, gout, fatigue and dropsy.
The herb is used to excite the appetite of naughty children, indigestion, fatigue after a serious illness, anemia and some kidney diseases. It causes sweating and lowers the temperature in feverish conditions. It is also used as a sedative for coughs, asthma, neuralgic pain, rheumatism, some skin diseases / slow-healing wounds, etc./.
The fruits of the camel thorn are used for constipation. The juice of the plant in its fresh state is used in insect bites. The roots are used for wounds, swelling and more.
Our folk medicine uses camellia thorn in inflammation of the liver, malaria, pain and ulcers in the stomach and intestines, jaundice, sand in the kidneys and bladder, difficulty urinating, hysterical seizures and nervous weakness, anemia, atherosclerosis.
Externally, the plant is used for skin inflammation, boils, hemorrhoids and even cancer. It has been experimentally established that camellia improves blood circulation in some vascular areas, stimulates the heart, calms the central nervous system.
The camel thorn is widely popular in German medicine. It is used for menstrual disorders, as well as as an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial agent. However, the herb has not been sufficiently studied and its properties have not been fully studied.
Folk medicine with camel thorn
Camellia is used in folk medicine as a means of stimulating appetite and improving digestion, as a sedative for coughs, liver and bile disorders and more. Prepare a decoction of 5 - 10 g of drug and 400 ml of boiling water. Strain and take 1 tablespoon three times a day.
A decoction or infusion of the herb (5-10 g per 100 ml of water) is also used, which is drunk 3 times a day.
Another recipe recommends 1 tablespoon of the herb to pour 400 ml of boiling water and leave to soak for 1 hour. From the resulting decoction drink 1 glass of wine 4 times daily before meals.
In Bulgarian folk medicine, camel thorn is also used for cancer. In this case, the freshly crushed plant is mixed with the same amount of fresh wormwood and 1 teaspoon of nishadar. With the resulting mixture, the cancer-affected area is applied.
Stems soaked for 10 days in white wine (1:50 ratio) are used for scrofula. And the juice of the fresh herb is used for insect bites.
With a mixture of white wormwood and camellia juice, folk healers treat worms. The fruit of the camel thorn is used in folk medicine as a purgative.
Damage from camel thorn
As with any herb, you should consult a doctor before using camel thorn. Camel thorn should not be confused with donkey thorn or other species of thistle. Camellia is bitter in taste and if ingested in large doses can cause vomiting and diarrhea.
Only 6.5 g can cause vomiting and poisoning. The herb can have serious side effects for people taking blood-thinning medications. Camellia is traditionally used to stimulate menstruation and induce abortion, so it should not be taken by pregnant women.
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