Рубрика: Wild Medicinal Plants

FAMILY HYPERZIACEAE

The poisonous Lycopodium selago, or fir clubmoss, is an evergreen perennial herbaceous plant.

The sporophyte differs from the previously described species in its growth form. It produces several clustered erect stems, 5–25 cm tall, dichotomously branching. The stems are densely covered with linear-needle-like leaves, with the lower part of the stems being bare and brown. All leaves are uniform, horizontally spreading or upward-pointing but not pressed, hard, sharp, entire-edged, occasionally finely serrated, shiny, and 5–7 mm long and 1–1.5 mm wide. No spore-bearing cones are formed; spores are located in sporangia, visible only under a magnifying glass, found individually in the axils of green leaves. The sporangia are kidney-shaped, up to 1 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, and are located in the upper and middle parts of the plant.

It grows in mossy coniferous forests in the northern forest zone, less frequently in the Caucasus and Carpathians.

In medicine, the herb Lycopodium selago (Herba Selagins) is used. The herb is harvested throughout the summer. Dried herb consists of green stems with leaves. The stems are up to 20 cm long, with shorter stems predominating since they easily crumble after drying. The raw material resembles the herb of Lycopodium annotinum.

Microscopic examination reveals a white fringe with papillate outgrowths along the edge of the leaves of Lycopodium selago, unlike other species such as Lycopodium clavatum or Lycopodium annotinum. This fringe consists of adjoining cells of the upper and lower epidermis, under which no green mesophyll cells are present.

The herb of Lycopodium selago contains 0.6–1.1% alkaloids, which likely accounts for its toxicity to animals and humans. Seven alkaloids have been identified, with the main one being selagin. Overdosing on fir clubmoss can lead to fatal outcomes.

A 5% aqueous decoction of Lycopodium selago is used in medical practice for treating chronic alcoholism. The treatment induces a conditioned reflex aversion to alcohol through unpleasant effects caused by the decoction.

The decoction causes strong vegetative reactions such as salivation, sweating, lowered blood pressure, changes in pulse, respiratory slowing, muscle fibrillation, general malaise, prolonged nausea, and repeated vomiting (sometimes more than eight episodes). Nausea intensifies if the patient consumes alcohol or smokes tobacco. By repeatedly pairing alcohol intake with the decoction, a conditioned reflex aversion to alcohol is developed.

Treatment is conducted only in specialized healthcare facilities under medical supervision and is generally combined with psychotherapy. Treatment begins 3–4 days after stopping alcohol consumption. Patients consume half a glass (about 100 ml) of freshly prepared 5% decoction, and after 3–15 minutes, are given 3–5 ml of their preferred alcoholic beverage to drink and smell. Vomiting occurs within 10–15 minutes or sometimes later, 1–3 hours after ingestion.

Adverse effects of the decoction may include abdominal pain, fainting, or collapse. Treatment with Lycopodium selago is contraindicated in patients with endocrine disorders, severe cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, gastrointestinal ulcers, and various other conditions.

A 5% decoction is prepared by placing 10 g of crushed herb into a flask, adding 200 ml of water, and boiling for 15 minutes on low heat. The decoction is cooled, the herb squeezed, water added to make 200 ml, and then filtered. The decoction is stored in a refrigerator for no more than two days.

FAMILY LYCOPODIACEAE

The sporophyte develops a creeping stem 1–2 meters long, repeatedly fork-branched, with ascending twigs and small roots, making the plant easily uprooted. The leaves are sessile, pressed against the stem, and linear-lanceolate. In summer, upright solitary stalks appear at the tips of the lateral ascending branches, ending in two (rarely one to four) spore-bearing strobili. The strobili are covered with imbricated, triangular-ovate, finely pointed sporophylls, at the base of which on the inner side are sac-like sporangia containing numerous spores. In July–August, the strobili turn yellow, the sporangia crack open, and the spores are released.

In the European part of its range, it grows in coniferous forests—pine, spruce, and mixed coniferous-broadleaf forests. In Siberia, it is found in dark coniferous spruce-fir forests, preferring forests with a ground cover of green mosses, where it often forms large thickets. It is widely distributed throughout the forest zones of Europe, Siberia, and the Far East, especially abundant in northern regions; it is absent in Central Asia.

The spores of clubmoss, or lycopodium — Lycopodium — have medicinal applications. The strobili are collected in late July or early August shortly before full ripening. Early in the morning, when dew is still present, the yellowing strobili are cut with special scissors equipped with an attached metal box and placed into bags made of dense (calico) fabric. Uprooting the entire plant is prohibited, as it leads to the depletion of thickets, which regenerate very slowly (over 20–30 years). The collected strobili are dried in the sun, indoors, or in dryers at a temperature not exceeding 40°C. For drying, the strobili are spread on paper or dense fabric, as well as in basins, troughs, and other containers. As they dry, the sporangia burst, releasing the spores. After drying, the strobili are carefully beaten. The resulting powder, consisting of spores, is sieved several times through a fine mesh to remove sporophylls, other parts of the strobili, sand, etc.; the lycopodium is then passed through the finest nylon or silk drum sieve at least three more times. The finished lycopodium is a very fine, pale yellow, free-flowing powder.

The medicinal use of lycopodium as a protective agent is based on its physical properties as an extremely delicate, inert powder that does not absorb water, is non-hygroscopic, and does not cause irritation. It is used as baby powder and for bedsores; in pharmacy—for coating pills.

Creeping species of clubmoss with similar spores are also widely distributed and permitted for harvesting, although their strobili yield less product.

Annual Clubmoss — Lycopodium annotinum L. — is distinguished by spreading leaves and solitary spore-bearing strobili without stalks; it is found in wetter, predominantly pure or mixed forests.

Flattened or Double-edged Clubmoss — Lycopodium complanatum L. (Lycopodium anceps Wallin) develops fan-shaped, flattened branches with scale-like appressed leaves. Its strobili are on stalks, usually 3–4 in number, and it grows in dry pine forests, often among white moss.

A perennial herbaceous plant with a spherical tuberous rhizome, an unbranched stem, and few trifoliate leaves. The inflorescence is a raceme. Flowers are yellow, with petal-like sepals, 6 petals shorter than the sepals, and 6 stamens. The fruit is an inflated, membranous, sac-like capsule.

In the Caucasus, two species grow: Leontice smirnowii Trautv. (Smirnov’s Otabnik) and L. minor Boiss. (Small Otabnik). The tubers of both species are referred to in Georgian folk medicine as «round medicine» and are used to stimulate appetite, treat anemia, tuberculosis, and during recovery periods after illnesses.

The tubers of Smirnov’s Otabnik contain about 3.5% of total alkaloids, the main one being the liquid alkaloid leontamine. A dry extract is suggested for treating gastritis with low acidity. It is produced in 0.5 g tablets, taken twice daily, half an hour before meals, or as a liquid extract, 40 drops half an hour before meals.

The tubers of Leontice ewersmannii Bge. from Central Asia also contain alkaloids, including leontamine.

A shrub or small tree with evergreen, shiny, oval leaves that taper to a point at the tip. Flowers are small, white, and arranged in racemes. The calyx and corolla are five-lobed, with numerous stamens. The fruit is a visible black drupe with a large stone.

It grows in the western Caucasus and in Talysh, in the understory of mountain forests.

The entire plant is toxic, containing the glycoside amygdalin. The leaves are used to prepare cherry laurel water, which replaces bitter almond water in the Caucasus.

Family Cupressaceae

The cypress and thuja subfamilies have scale-like leaves and woody cones; they are decorative cultivated trees and shrubs. The juniper subfamily includes wild species.

The juniper subfamily is represented locally by a single genus, Juniperus (juniper). It differs from other subfamilies by having juicy berry-like cones. These are shrubs or, less commonly, small trees. Leaves are of two types: in species of the subgenus Oxycedrus, they are short, sharp needles arranged in whorls of three; in the subgenus Sabina, the leaves are scale-like, cross-paired, and partly fused to the branches. Heterophylly is observed, meaning both types of leaves may occur on the same shrub, depending on light or shrub age. Resin canals are absent in the wood; resin occurs in individual cells. Essential oil is stored in reservoirs in the leaves, with one canal per needle, one rounded reservoir per scale’s back, and several rounded reservoirs in the berry-cones.

Essential oils are dominated by pinene, typical of conifers. Some Sabina species contain the sesquiterpene alcohol cedrol, absent in the Oxycedrus subgenus.

The juniper is an evergreen shrub with spiny needles in whorls of three. Male and female cones grow on separate plants. Female cones consist of several whorls with three scales each, but only the upper whorl forms three fertile seed scales, each with one ovule. After fertilization, the upper seed scales swell, become fleshy, and fuse to form a juicy berry-like cone, or galbulus; the suture is visible as three tiny whorls. Galbulus are initially green, darkening to almost black upon maturity. They mature slowly, taking two years, so green and black berries may occur simultaneously. Ripe black berries are sweet, aromatic, and contain three hard seeds.

It grows in the understory of coniferous and mixed forests, often forming thickets in areas where forests have been cleared. It adapts widely to various soil types and moisture levels. Its range includes northern and central Europe, Western and parts of Eastern Siberia. It is absent in the Far East, Central Asia, and the Caucasus.

Juniper berries, Fructus Juniperi, are harvested in autumn. The shrub’s spiny nature complicates handpicking, so a mat or cloth is placed under the bush, and branches are gently struck with a stick to dislodge ripe berries. After harvesting, the berries are sorted to remove needles, twigs, and unripe fruits and are air-dried.

Berry cones contain 0.5–2% essential oil (composed of pinene, sesquiterpene cadinene, terpinolene, etc.), invert sugar (13–40%), resin (9%), pectins (pentosans), organic acids, and more.

Juniper needles also contain essential oil.

The red juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus L.), a large shrub, has needles and spherical reddish-brown berry-cones. It grows in the Crimean and Western Caucasus mountains. Its wood is dry-distilled to produce tar (Oleum Cadinum) with disinfectant properties, used for skin diseases.

Subgenus Sabina
Tree-like junipers, such as the hemispherical juniper (Juniperus semiglobosa Rgl.), Turkestan juniper (Juniperus turkestanica Kot.), and Zeravshan juniper (J. zeravshanica Kot.), form sparse forests on dry mountain slopes in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Branches have appressed scale-like leaves, with sharp needle-like leaves on shaded lower branches. Berry cones are black, aromatic, and not sweet.

Steam distillation of these junipers’ branches yields essential oil with pinene (~75%), sesquiterp.

Family Juglandaceae

Large trees with imparipinnate leaves. Flowers are unisexual, inconspicuous, with a simple perianth. Members of this family are rich in tannins, which accumulate in the bark, wood, leaves, and fruits. A characteristic feature is the presence of the bactericidal compound juglone, a derivative of naphthoquinone, which is not found in other families. They also contain flavonoids and pigments. Some species are rich in vitamin C and carotene. Essential oil is present in trace amounts. Seeds are very rich in fatty oil. Alkaloids have not been found, but calcium oxalate often occurs as druses.

The family includes two genera: Juglans (walnut) and Pterocarya (wingnut). The wingnut is a tree found in the Caucasus.

Leaves are very large, imparipinnate, with 2–3–5 pairs of leaflets; the upper impar leaflet is larger than the lateral ones; leaflets are oblong-ovate, with entire margins and glabrous surfaces. Staminate flowers are grouped in large catkins; pistillate flowers appear in clusters of 2–3. The fruit is a drupe, oval or spherical, with a green, leathery, fleshy exocarp and a woody endocarp (stone). When ripe, the exocarp splits and separates, while the stone with the seed inside is called a walnut. It blooms in April–May during leaf budding; fruits ripen in August–September.

Wild walnut groves exist in the mountains of Central Asia. In the Caucasus, wild or feral walnuts can be found. It is widely cultivated in southern regions.

Walnut leaves, Folium Juglandis, are harvested in June when they are not yet fully developed, covered in essential oil glands, and still have a balsamic fragrance. The leaflets are stripped from the central petiole. The leaves are used fresh because slow drying causes them to blacken.

The carotene content in the leaves is very high, exceeding 30 mg%, and the vitamin C content ranges from 285 to 1300 mg% or more. As the leaves develop, their ascorbic acid content gradually increases, peaking in the middle of the vegetative period when the fruits are still unripe. Vitamins P and B have also been found, along with traces of essential oil, tannins (3–5%), ellagic and gallic acids, and the pigment juglone, which is 5-hydroxy-1,4-a-naphthoquinone with bactericidal and fungistatic properties. Additionally, it contains flavonoids like quercetin and kaempferol, and caffeic acid.

Family Cannabaceae

A perennial dioecious climbing herbaceous plant that clings with hooked spines along its edges. Lower leaves are opposite, long-petioled, rounded or oval, deeply 3–5 palmately lobed with a heart-shaped base; the margins are coarsely toothed, and the upper surface is rough. Flowers are small, unisexual, with a single whorl, and yellowish-green in color. Staminate flowers form drooping panicles, while pistillate flowers with bracts are in short axillary spikes. Mature spikes form an ovoid infructescence. The fruits, small nuts, are located at the base of the enlarged bracts. It blooms in July.

It is found along riverbanks, in shrub thickets, and on the edges of light forests in Europe, the Caucasus, southern Western Siberia, the Altai, and Central Asia. It is often cultivated on industrial plantations, where unfertilized cones are preferred. These cones do not develop seeds but are otherwise identical in appearance.

The fruits, known as hop cones (Strobuli Lupuli), are harvested between August and September, just before full ripeness, during the greenish-yellow phase. Overripe cones turn yellow-brown, while unripe cones are bright green. The cones are covered in yellow glands.

In addition to cones, the separated glands, known as Lupulinum, are used. These are obtained by shaking and sieving dry infructescences, yielding a golden-yellow powder (7–16%). The cones contain essential oil (2%), a large amount of resins, bitter substances, some valerianic acid, the alkaloid inulin, choline, and other compounds. Literature suggests that cones exhibit estrogenic activity and are being studied for use in hormone therapy.

Hop cones are used as a diuretic, for gastritis treatment, and as an ingredient in calming teas. Folk remedies use hop decoctions to wash hair to strengthen it and prevent hair loss. For this, one tablespoon of cones is poured with a glass of boiling water, boiled for 30 minutes, and after cooling, massaged into the scalp.

In Hungary and Czechoslovakia, the medications «Hovaletten» and «Valosedan» are produced with dry hop cone extract and are used as sedatives.

Both species are small perennial herbaceous plants with thick, short, creeping, multi-headed rhizomes, surrounded by numerous thick adventitious roots. The aerial part consists of 2–4 large basal leaves and a short flowering stalk bearing 1–4 flowers.The leaves are nearly round in outline, palmately divided, thick and leathery, dark green, and grow on long petioles. Flowers are regular but have a unique structure: 5 large, petal-like, colored sepals; 5–12 petals modified into tubular nectaries with their tips curved inward; numerous stamens; and 3–10 carpels. The fruit is an aggregate follicle with persistent styles. The plants are poisonous.

Differences Between the Species
Caucasian hellebore has leaves divided into 5–11 lanceolate lobes with serrated margins. Occasionally, one or two lobes are further divided. Flower colors vary: carmine-red, white with red speckles and carmine margins, or muted greenish-yellow-brown. Follicles are free at the base. It flowers from December to March in the Transcaucasus and from April to May on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Range.

Purple hellebore has leaves divided into 5–7 lobes, each deeply split into 2–3 secondary lobes. Flower colors are uniform: dirty violet with dark veins on the outside and greenish-violet-purple on the inside. Follicles are fused at the base and have a distinct keel on the back. It flowers in April and May.

Caucasian hellebore grows in mountain forests, along rivers, and forest edges in the Western Caucasus and isolated areas in the Talysh mountains. Purple hellebore grows in deciduous forests in Western Ukraine.

Harvesting and Uses
After seed dispersal, the rhizomes with roots (Rhizoma Hellebori) are dug out, cleaned, washed, and dried. Leaves are occasionally harvested simultaneously.

The rhizomes and roots of both species contain cardiac glycosides, though these are found in smaller amounts in aerial parts.

Key Compounds
The main glycosides have been isolated and named accordingly:

Corglyborin K (Helleborus caucasicus)

Corglyborin P (or Hellebrin, from H. purpurascens)

Both have the aglycone hellebrigenin, which belongs to the bufadienolide group. The aglycone has a steroid structure with a six-membered doubly unsaturated lactone ring, similar to strophanthidin. The sugar components differ:

Corglyborin K contains only rhamnose.

Corglyborin P contains both rhamnose and glucose.

These glycosides act similarly to strophanthin in speed and type of effect but resemble digitalis in cumulative properties and duration of action.

Preparation and Administration
«Corglyborin» is available in tablets of 0.0002 g (taken 3–4 times daily, then reduced to 1–4 times daily) and in 1 ml ampoules of 0.025% solution for intravenous use (1 ml is diluted in 10 ml of a 20% glucose solution).

A biennial plant with bluish basal and stem leaves that are lyrate-pinnatisected. The flowers are large and yellow. It has numerous stamens, and the fruit is a very long (up to 25 cm) pod-like capsule. A distinctive characteristic of this genus compared to others is the presence of a septum in the fruit (in Chelidonium, Roemeria, and Hylomecon, the fruit is also pod-like but lacks a septum). The entire plant exudes a yellow milky sap. It blooms in May and June. It grows along the Black Sea coast in Crimea and the Caucasus, with plantations established in the Krasnodar region.

The herb contains 12 alkaloids, the primary one being glaucine, a derivative of isoquinoline. The total alkaloid content in the herb ranges from 2.94% to 3.95%, depending on the growth stage, with glaucine constituting 1.56% to 2%. The roots predominantly contain protopine, a characteristic alkaloid of the family. Approved for use is glaucine hydrochloride, produced in 0.05 g tablets; it is taken orally at a dose of one tablet 2–3 times a day after meals as a non-narcotic antitussive agent.

Three other species have been studied in Central Asia. All of them contain alkaloids similar to opium alkaloids and those of celandine, such as protopine and others. Glaucine has been found in the annual Glaucium corniculatum (L.) Curt, along with protopine and allorhytopine.

A small perennial plant with a membranous bulb (up to 3 cm in diameter) surrounded by brownish scales. It develops two basal leaves; the leaves are long (20–25 cm), linear. The flower stalk is the same length as the leaves and bears a single drooping flower. The perianth is simple, white, with six tepals of varying sizes (unlike Leucojum, where all six tepals are the same size). The three outer tepals are longer and oval-egg-shaped, while the three inner ones are shorter and have green tips.

It blooms in early spring. In its wild form, it is found only in the foothill forests of the Western Caucasus. Bulbs are harvested to obtain alkaloids. The alkaloid content ranges from 0.5% to 1.38%. Several alkaloids have been isolated, the main one being galantamine. Other alkaloids, such as galanthine and galantidine, have no medical significance. Of theoretical interest is the biochemical kinship of plants, as evidenced by the identity of galantidine with lycorine.

Galantamine hydrobromide is an anticholinesterase drug. Its action is similar to eserine and prostigmine but is less toxic. It is used to treat myasthenia, poliomyelitis, polyneuritis, radiculitis, and other conditions. Galantamine aids in restoring movement in affected muscles. It is produced in ampoules containing 1 ml of 0.1%, 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1% solutions; prescribed in doses of 0.5 ml, adjusted according to age and therapeutic effect.

In Bulgaria, a similar preparation is produced under the name Nivalin from Galanthus nivalis L. The demand for galantamine is so high that two additional genera of the Amaryllidaceae family, which also contain galantamine, are now used in its production.