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Bog rosemary is a perennial shrub, 15-60 cm tall. Stem little branched, smooth, creeping. The shoots are firm, raised, red-brown in color. The rhizome is long, lacy, usually located in mosses, they usually form a mutually beneficial symbiosis with fungi (mutualism). Andromeda leaves are lanceolate, with downward flaps, 1-5cm long and 2-8mm wide. The upper side of the leaf is dark green, the underside is matte white, waxy, leathery. The flowers are pinkish (rarely in other colors from white to dark red), located on several long red flower stalks, located at the top of the previous year's shoots. The plant blooms in April-May (it happens that the plant blooms again in autumn, but these flowers no longer produce seeds). The fruits ripen in August-September. The fruit is a five-slotted, roundly compressed box.
Bog rosemary
is a slow-growing plant,
For medicinal purposes, the above-ground part of the plant (young shoots) is used, which is collected during flowering in late May-early June.
Therefore, since the plant is poisonous, its collection is not very safe - it is recommended to do it with rubber coated gloves.
It is recommended to dry the plant in the fresh air, in a well-ventilated and shaded place. The drug is valid for 1 year when stored in paper bags.
Tannins, as well as the diterpenoid andromedotoxin, flavonoids, resins, iridoids, dyes, microelements and other valuable chemical compounds have been found in the surface part of
Bog rosemary
.
Medicinal significance
Due to the unique chemical composition of the plant and the high content of tannins, resins, flavonoids and tannins, andromeda leaves have astringent, bactericidal, antiseptic properties and can be used externally as a wound healing agent.
Bog rosemary
also has the ability to reduce arterial blood pressure, but due to its poisonous substances, it is not recommended to use it orally! Andromeda can cause a strong drop in blood pressure, dizziness, vomiting and diarrhea, and breathing problems can also begin.
In folk medicine, andromeda leaves are mainly used to prepare cough remedies, relieve the condition in case of bronchial asthma, as well as to relieve pain in the neck and chest.
Andromeda leaves are also used by folk scientists to cure gynecological diseases (especially in the case of inflammations of the genitals of the female system), and will also be useful in the case of rheumatism and pulmonary tuberculosis.
A decoction of the leaves can also be used as a heart remedy that lowers blood pressure.
Bog rosemary
is also used to treat diarrhea, insomnia, to heal festering and infected wounds. Fresh leaves are used as an application on skin inflammations and ulcers.