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Useful properties and application of rakita
Botanical description of rakita
Rakita – this is a perennial tree, has a very dense crown, has many trunks, can reach a height of up to 18-20 m. The bark of the willow trunks is brown-gray with cracks. Young shoots are grayish-yellow, very fragile at the joints. In March, yellowish-gray conical buds begin to bloom, gradually turning black over time. Ovoid-lanceolate, narrow leaves with a glossy sheen. Their margins are glandular-serrate, sharply elongated. Short petioles covered with glands.
Flowering begins with the blooming of the leaves. Flowers do not have a perianth, unisexual – male with 2-5 stamens, female with one pistil surrounded by nectaries. The fruit-box is filled with hairy seeds. The tree is frost resistant. It looks picturesque on the banks of reservoirs and in hedges. In Russia, it grows in the Bryansk region, in Siberia, in Ukraine in the Poltava region.
Useful properties of rakita
For medicinal purposes, the bark containing vitamin C and tannins is widely used. The bark is endowed with astringent, antipyretic properties. The active substances have an antimalarial effect. It is used as an anthelmintic and hemostatic agent. It has anti-inflammatory, diuretic and choleretic effect. The presence of flavones means that the plant is able to strengthen blood vessels. The glycoside salicin behaves like aspirin.
Application of rakita
As an external agent, a decoction and powder of the bark are used. Due to the bactericidal features, these agents are applicable for the treatment of wounds, the elimination of inflammation in abscesses. Inside, decoctions are used for dyspepsia, catarrhs. Whooping cough and fever are well treated. In chronic rheumatism, the general condition noticeably improves, pain disappears. As an astringent and anti-inflammatory agent, a decoction of the bark helps with stomatitis, gingivitis. Eliminates gastric and uterine bleeding, has a diuretic and choleretic effect.
Young shoots of willow have long been used in the treatment of scurvy. With the help of rakita, male and female diseases are treated, such as: prostatitis and inflammation of the appendages.
A decoction of the bark of the willow:
Recipe #1: 20 g per 200 ml keep in a water bath for 15 minutes, insist, strain and drink 1 tbsp. spoon 3 times a day for rheumatism and 5-6 times a day for other diseases.
Recipe #2: Boil 1 cup of boiling water, 2 tablespoons of finely chopped thin branches for five minutes over low heat, covered. Cool, strain and take 3 cup 0.5 times a day. Course 1 month (for men).
Recipe #2: 2 tablespoons of bark, 1 liter of water. Bring to a boil and then cook on low heat for 0.5 minutes for half an hour. Leave for 30 minutes, strain and drink 1/3 cup 5-6 times a day. Course 1 month (for women).
Rakita shoots are used for goiter with thyrotoxicosis. They are burned, the resulting ashes are mixed with honey 1: 2 and taken 3 times a day 20 minutes before meals.
Broom from willow, used in the bath for the treatment of osteochondrosis and rheumatism.
willow flowers
Flowers willows small, same-sex (male and female), without perianth, inflorescences – catkins. Traditional healers recommend using tincture of rakita flowers for heart disease, tachycardia, arrhythmia.
Rakita flower tincture:
0.5 liters of vodka, 100 gr. flowers. Infuse the remedy for a month, take 3-4 times a day for 30-35 drops, diluting in a spoonful of water before meals.
Rakita flowers are useful for female and male infertility.
willow leaves
Rakita leaves are bare, alternate, linear-lanceolate, sharply serrate. The lower leaf plate is slightly pubescent. Tea from young leaves is useful, it has a tonic effect, relieves fatigue, the general condition of the body noticeably improves, depression disappears. In folk medicine, there is a long-standing and very effective recipe for a concentrated, very thick decoction.
Rakita leaf decoction: plucked (in spring) leaves of a tree, fill a saucepan (4 liters), sealing well, pour cold water, bring to a boil and boil over low heat until a dark brown liquid is formed, similar in consistency to sour cream. With such a concentrated decoction, lubricate the area of u3bu4bthe thyroid gland before going to bed, covering it with a napkin. In the morning you can wash off, the course is carried out for XNUMX-XNUMX months.
Rakita willow lomkaya
A tree 15-20 m high is decorated with a tent-shaped crown with brittle ropes – that’s why the plant has such a name. Shoots glabrous, glossy, olive-green with a reddish tint. Young shoots are sticky. The kidneys are black, bare, also shiny. Leaves, up to 15 cm long, lanceolate with a short drawn edge. The underside of the leaves is dark green, shiny, the lower side is bluish-light green. The flowers appear along with the leaves.
Grows well on clayey and moist soils near water bodies and in areas where groundwater is located close to the surface. Propagated by cuttings. Willow bark contains tannins, it is good to use it for diarrhea. There are flavonoids, glycosides, a decoction of the bark is useful for neuralgia, neurosis, rheumatism, gout, malaria, gastritis of the stomach, diseases of the spleen and liver. An effective remedy for gynecological and infectious diseases.
Rakita contraindications
Rakita is contraindicated in pregnant women, children under 16 years of age, since the plant contains salicylates, this can cause encephalitis and liver failure in babies. Rakita should be used with caution in case of hyperacidity and chronic constipation. It is not recommended to use decoctions and infusions as a treatment for peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum.