Spring cinquefoil is a plant that grows wild in different varieties and also occurs as an ornamental plant in gardens. As a medicinal herb, it plays little role nowadays. In ancient times and the Middle Ages, it was used to treat various diseases.
Occurrence and cultivation of the spring cinquefoil.
Spring cinquefoil is a plant that grows wild in different varieties and also occurs as an ornamental plant in gardens. As a medicinal herb, it hardly plays a role nowadays. The spring cinquefoil belongs to the genus of cinquefoils, of which there are about 420 species worldwide. Potentilla neumannia or Potentilla tabernaemontani belongs to the rose family (Rosaceae) and was also called dysentery herb in the vernacular, because the healers of earlier times treated dysentery with it. The perennial, slow-growing herbaceous plant usually occurs as a ground cover 5 to 15 centimeters high. It forms runners up to one meter long, whose stems form small roots at the nodes. Thus, the plant spreads carpet-like in open locations. Its basal leaves are inverted-ovate or lanceolate, one to three centimeters long, with up to five teeth on both sides. The shoots sprout laterally from the basal leaves of the previous year. Spring cinquefoil forms single yellow 5-rayed flowers on the top-branched stems. Other varieties develop racemose inflorescences with three to ten yellow flowers about 1.8 centimeters across. Leaves and stems of the ancient medicinal plant are hairy. Seeds are formed from the flowers in summer and fall. The young fresh leaves and the root of spring cinquefoil can be prepared as a vegetable and taste slightly sweet. If you want to use it as a plant medicine, pick the leaves in spring and summer during flowering (March to May) and dry them. The roots are dug up in the fall, cleaned, cut into small pieces and dried. Some cinquefoil varieties even bloom a second time in the fall. Spring cinquefoil originated in Asia and Europe and is found today from northern Spain in the west to Belarus and Bulgaria in the east, from central Sweden in the north to southern Italy. It is also widespread in Germany, with the exception of the northern states. The medicinal plant loves sunny to semi-shady locations and prefers nutrient-rich, dry, permeable sand and gravel soils. In addition, the walker can also find it along roadsides, embankments and on dry meadows and cattle pastures. It also grows on mountain slopes up to 1,700 meters above sea level. Today, the undemanding plant is also grown in stone and natural gardens.
Effect and application
Spring cinquefoil is not so commonly used as a medicinal herb, as its other cinquefoil relatives have stronger medicinal effects. It contains flavonoids, fatty acids, triterpenes, tannins, glycosides, tormentol, starch, resin, essential oils and other ingredients. The plant has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, immunostrengthening, astringent, analgesic, antispasmodic, constipating, wound healing, dehydrating and blood sugar lowering properties. Medicinally used are leaves and root. Spring cinquefoil is used internally as a tea, decoction and tincture and externally as a poultice and poultice. Diarrhea is best cured with a tea. To do this, the patient brews 250 milliliters of boiling water over a teaspoonful of the roots and lets the tea steep for five minutes. After straining, the patient drinks the lukewarm tea unsweetened. The tea also helps against inflammation of the mouth and throat and bleeding gums. The user then uses it to rinse the mouth and gargle. The tea is also used to reduce fever. To do this, 30 grams of roots are boiled in a liter of water for ten minutes. The patient then drinks one cup of the strained tea three times a day. For external use, porridge dressings made of freshly crushed leaves are suitable. They are used to treat minor and poorly healing wounds. The active substances disinfect the wound, contract it and ensure the formation of new skin cells in the injured area. However, external application of spring cinquefoil may cause scarring. Washings with spring cinquefoil roots also help to heal wounds quickly. To do this, the user boils 35 grams of roots in a liter of water for 15 minutes. Then he filters the decoction and thoroughly washes the wound with the cooled liquid.To treat nail inflammation, the powdered and boiled root is mixed with raw egg and placed in a gauze. The cooled porridge is placed on the inflamed area. The poultice should be renewed three times a day. Against ulcers in the mouth and throat (aphthae) helps a decoction of spring cinquefoil leaves: the patient puts 20 grams of dried leaves in a liter of boiling water and leaves the decoction to infuse for 15 minutes. Then he dabs the aphthae several times a day with a cotton swab dipped in the decoction.
Importance for health, treatment and prevention.
Spring cinquefoil has a wide range of uses, although today it is hardly used in natural medicine. Used internally as a tea and tincture, it relieves stomachaches and toothaches. Used externally as an overlay and poultice, it heals eye, cuticle and skin inflammation, skin blemishes such as dandruff and acne, and ulcers. As a mouthwash and gargle solution, the decoction helps with inflammation of the mouth and throat and gingivitis. Its spasmolytic effect is seen in muscle spasms and cramps in the gastrointestinal tract. In open wounds, the medicinal plant has antiseptic properties and promotes wound healing. It also has antipyretic effect in colds and inflammations and relieves diarrhea. Thanks to its astringent effect, bleeding is quickly stopped. Its dehydrating effect can be used by patients with urinary stones. In addition, the ingredients of spring cinquefoil lower high blood sugar levels.
