Storksbill owes its name to its elongated fruiting stems, reminiscent of the beak of storks. Its botanical family includes the popular geraniums (Pelargonium), often planted in gardens and on balconies. The best known representative of the stork’s beaks, the Ruprechtskraut, is already mentioned in medieval written sources as a medicinal plant. Hildegard von Bingen and Paracelsus also knew the health-promoting effects of the herb named after Saint Ruprecht.
Occurrence and cultivation of the cranesbill.
One of the most common Central European cranesbills is Ruprecht’s herb. The family of cranesbill plants (Geraniaceae) includes about 400 species of the genus Geranium, which grow worldwide and even in inhospitable regions such as the Arctic and Antarctic. Many cranesbill species prefer cool temperate climates and moist, nutrient rich soils. They are perennial herbaceous plants, semi-shrubs, and shrubs no more than one meter tall. They have dark green roundish or five-lobed leaves. Two of them stand in pairs against or alternate on a single stem. The stems branch over thickenings and are often covered with hairs. Among the most common Central European storksbills is the Ruprechtskraut. Its hermaphroditic five-petaled flowers are disk or funnel shaped and red, pink or blue-purple. They love well-drained soils with a high lime content. The attentive plant lover will find the plants, which bloom in bright colors from May to September, along forest edges, in ditches, wet lowlands and mixed forests.
Effect and application
To date, there are few clinical studies on the healing properties of cranesbill. Most knowledge about it comes from ancient written sources and centuries of folk medicine applications. The best researched is on Ruprechtskraut (Geranium robertianum), which is also called Stinking Cranesbill because of its unpleasant-smelling leaves. The botanist and physician Tabernaemontanus called the plant red-running herb because of its red color, to which he attributed healing powers in the treatment of red-running disease, also known as erysipelas. Its constituents include geraniin (a bitter substance), tannins, flavonoids, organic acids and essential oils. The medicinal plant is used internally and externally. It is consumed as an ingredient in wild herb salads and administered as a tea, tea mixture, in tablet form and as a homeopathic mother tincture. As a basic recipe, naturopathy recommends pouring 1/4 l of cold water over 2 tsp of fresh or dried herb and letting it steep overnight. The next morning, the cranesbill tea is slightly warmed and strained. For the mother tincture Geranium robertianum only the fresh cranesbill herb is used. For external treatment, decoction and freshly squeezed sap are suitable. The decoction is used for making poultices and as a bath water additive: The sick person pours 150 to 200 g of cranesbill herb with 1 l of water, strains it and pours it into the bath water. The juice of the plant is also very effective. An overlay of crushed herb is used to treat open ulcers and skin rashes. Cranesbill has anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, tonic, pain relieving effects and also helps in the treatment of mental disorders. Contraindications and interactions with other remedies are not known. If the dosage is too high and used for too long, it may occasionally cause stomach problems: The high tannin content irritates the stomach lining.
Health significance, treatment and prevention.
Cranesbill and Ruprechtskraut in particular are used against a variety of diseases and also preventive. Prized by naturopathic midwives are the fertility-enhancing properties of cranesbill, which come from the ellagitannins (phytoestrogens). Against [[Infertility and infertility in women|childlessness is recommended since Hildegard von Bingen Geranium tea. It should be drunk daily by both sexes for a long period of time after the body has been treated with geranium or other herbs that eliminate heavy metals. Geranium wine is also successfully used against unwanted childlessness. To make the wine, two handfuls of herb and flowers are coarsely chopped and soaked in 1 l of white wine for several weeks. Then it is briefly heated on the stove and strained.Then the lukewarm wine is sweetened with honey and bottled. The couple drinks a glass of this fertility-giving elixir 2 times a day before meals. Scientific studies have proven the antibacterial, antifungal and anti-microbial effects of cranesbill. Gum and throat infections as well as minor gastrointestinal infections are quickly cured thanks to its astringent anti-inflammatory properties. The patient cures sore throats with cranesbill tea for gargling. Cranesbill preparations stop internal and external bleeding, such as nosebleeds, by contracting capillaries. The antiseptic effect of the medicinal plant comes into its own in wounds such as fistulas, ulcers and open legs, which are treated by applying the whole plant or poultices. Medicinal poultices soaked with decoction help nursing mothers whose Inflamed Nipples|nipples are inflamed. Infections, fever and pain are also effectively eliminated. People suffering from earache put a freshly picked leaf in the aching ear and remove it only when the discomfort has subsided. Through the metabolism accelerated by cranesbill products, the lymphatic flow is stimulated. It ensures that heavy metals, insect toxins, bacteria and viruses are expelled more quickly. The crushed leaves release an odor that has a repellent effect, especially on mosquitoes. Used after prolonged illness, cranesbill has a heart-strengthening effect and thus prevents heart disease. As a bath additive, it helps with skin rashes, lichen and herpes. In addition, patients can use cranesbill to treat depressive moods. To treat the consequences of shock, he combines it with emergency drops, which then strengthen nerves. Ruprechtskraut mother tincture is also used to treat longer tormenting traumas: Three days after geranium administration, the therapy-resistant patient’s healing blockade is dissolved, allowing him to undergo the necessary treatment. For a two-week course of treatment with the homeopathic remedy, 2 to 5 drops are taken 1 to 3 times daily directly on the tongue or diluted in a glass of water.
