Verbena officinalis: how and for what to use
Slender tall verbena bushes with long panicles of white or pale blue small flowers grow in abundance among fields and along roads. This beautiful herb has long been known among admirers of traditional medicine, because it has many beneficial properties, thanks to which it helps to get rid of many ailments. Why is this perennial so useful and where is the medicinal verbena used?
Both freshly harvested and dried verbena have healing properties. Tea is brewed from it, tinctures and decoctions, compresses and oil are made. Inflorescences, leaves and shoots, as well as the roots themselves, are healing.
Verbena officinalis helps to get rid of such diseases as:
- cutaneous;
- nervous;
- colds;
- gastrointestinal;
- cardiovascular;
- female diseases;
- problems with the genitourinary system;
- bronchitis and other respiratory diseases.
The benefits of verbena tea
From inflorescences and leaves of medicinal vervains you get a tasty and healthy tea. They drink it only freshly brewed, bay 2 tsp. flowers 200 ml of boiling water and letting it brew a little.
Verbena tea is used to:
- getting rid of the feeling of fatigue;
- normalization of sleep and the work of internal organs;
- improving blood outflow;
- restoration of the cycle in women;
- getting rid of headaches;
- lowering the temperature for colds.
Dried verbena tinctures
Healing tinctures on vodka (700 ml per 50 g of herb) are prepared from dry raw materials, including roots. After 3 weeks of exposure in cool and dark, this tincture is taken for:
- normalization of the digestive tract and liver;
- increased sweating with colds and a decrease in temperature;
- elimination of various inflammatory processes.
Drink the tincture only on an empty stomach, a teaspoon three times a day, diluted with a little water.
Water infusion for skin
For skin diseases, herbal verbena infusion helps well, relieving inflammation and suppressing itching. They are rubbed with various rashes, boils and other problem areas. An infusion of inflorescences is prepared by pouring a tablespoon of flowers with a glass of boiling water and milling for half an hour in a water bath.
The infusion is consumed before the main meal, 50 ml, no more than 3 times a day.
When to collect raw materials?
The plant accumulates most of all nutrients during the flowering period - it occurs at the end of summer. In August, they begin to collect the herb, digging it up together with the roots, which will be useful for preparing medicinal decoctions.
So that verbena does not hatch on the site, they leave some of the plantings for self-sowing, or they collect seeds on their own after they mature for further cultivation.
Harvesting useful grass for future use is very simple, you just need to spread it on a newspaper or hang bundles in the fresh air. Dry raw materials are stored in paper bags. You can spread the verbena in layers on a shelf in the pantry, shifting each one with newspapers.