Loosestrife is a wild perennial found in our latitudes. Its importance as a medicinal plant is generally little known.
Occurrence and cultivation of the loosestrife.
The plant can grow more than one meter high. Its flowering period is from June to August. Loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris), also known as field loosestrife, is a plant of moist places. It is not very common in the wild. Since it is hardy and can reproduce well by runners, it is popular in the garden for planting along the edges of ponds. The plant can grow more than one meter high. Its flowering period is from June to August. Also commonly found in the garden, the proliferating dotted yellow felweed (Lysimachia punctata) is also addressed as golden felweed. It differs from Lysimachia vulgaris in its denser flower panicle and velvety hairy leaves. If you want to pluck out a petal, you immediately hold the whole corolla in your hand. If you put a panicle in the vase as a cut flower, you will soon notice that the complete corollas fall out and speckle the table next to the vase. This is because in all Lysimachia species the five petals, as well as the stamens and sepals, are fused at the base to form a short tube. That is why they are classified in the plant family Primulaceae. The more common wild red-flowered common loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is botanically unrelated to the loosestrife. It belongs to the loosestrife family. The similarity in name may be related to its occurrence in similar locations and similar uses in medicine.
Effect and application
There are many traditional references for the use of loosestrife in the healing arts. For example, loosestrife contains vitamin C. It could thus help compensate for the vitamin deficiency that used to occur during the winter season. Even today, herbalists recommend preparing loosestrife as a vegetable to enrich the menu in spring. For this purpose, the young shoots and leaves of the plant, before it begins to bloom, are boiled or steamed and stewed. In herbal medicine, the flowering herb is collected to make a tea. A tablespoon of the fresh or dried herb is poured over half a liter of water. After brewing for about three to five minutes, the tea is ready for use. Due to its hemostatic astringent effect, it is used externally to promote wound healing. In the case of hemorrhoids, a sitz bath may provide relief. Treatment with loosestrife tea may also be indicated for couperose. From folk medicine the preparation of a wound dressing from the freshly crushed herb has been handed down. Gargling with the tea is said to have a healing and hemostatic effect on inflammation of the oral mucosa, gums and bleeding gums. Internally, the tea or a preparation as a tincture (as an alcoholic extract) is used in phytotherapy for cough, nervousness, insomnia, and stomach and intestinal problems. In the case of diarrhea, loosestrife is also said to help rebuild the disturbed intestinal flora. Homeopathy uses Lysimachia, for example, in the form of globules. In diarrhea, these are usually globules of the potencies D1 to D6. Traditional Chinese medicine values preparations from another species of loosestrife (Lysimachia christianae) for liver and gall problems. The yellow dye from the flowers of the versatile plants, together with alum, can be used as a natural dye for dyeing textiles made of wool and silk. The roots yield a brown hue. In the past, loosestrife was also used for tanning leather because of its content of tanning agents. And people fumigated apartments with it. So they could drive away annoying insects.
Importance for health, treatment and prevention.
The above range of applications suggests that loosestrife must contain many substances that are important for health. They can be used not only for treatment, but also for prevention of health disorders, if necessary. For example, the contained vitamin C is effective against scurvy and it is needed to support the immune system. The silicic acid, which is also contained in many other plants, helps to keep the skin and connective tissue healthy and elastic. The saponins in loosestrife can bind fats and hinder the growth of harmful fungi.This is possibly one of the reasons for the positive effect in the gastrointestinal tract. Sesquiterpene lactones also appear to be present in relevant quantities. These bitter-tasting substances are formed by the plant to keep away pests and parasites as well as predators. It is suspected that they may have anti-inflammatory properties in humans. The glycoside salicarin is a secondary plant compound. It exhibits an antibacterial effect in the intestine. Thus, it can support the effect of the herb against intestinal infections and diarrhea. Loosestrife Lysimachia vulgaris also contains other mucilages beneficial for digestion and pectin. It is difficult to estimate how strong the health potencies of all the above-mentioned active ingredients in loosestrife are. Folk medicine findings are based on individually made experiences and the transmission of traditional ways of application. Pharmacological findings based on studies using modern scientific methods are hard to find with regard to this ancient medicinal plant. The most important therapeutically active substances can probably be considered to be the various tannins. Most of the known applications of preparations from loosestrife concerning wound healing are based on their properties. On the one hand, there is the astringent effect, which is responsible for the fact that bleeding can be stopped better. In addition, there is the supporting anti-inflammatory effect.
