Блог

The bulbs are large (4–7 cm in diameter), growing several on a vertical rhizome; the basal leaves are 7–10 in number, arranged in a two-row rosette, linear, 20–35 cm in length, 2–3 cm in width. The leaves appear in spring, but wither in summer after 1–2 months. In August, a leafless flower stalk develops, bearing an umbel with 4–7 flowers. The flowers are slightly irregular, yellowish or yellow-pink, with a pink-purple stripe on the inner side. This plant is endemic, found in the mountains of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan at altitudes of 800–2500 m. Alkaloids can be isolated from the bulbs and leaves.

The bulbs contain 0.8–0.9% alkaloids, the roots 2.25%, and the leaves 0.33–1%. Several alkaloids have been identified; galantamine is found in the leaves up to 0.2%, and is present in larger amounts in the bulbs and roots, but the predominant alkaloid is lycorine.

Industry obtains galantamine from the leaves of Ungernea Victoris. Other species of Ungernia are richer in lycorine, and industry extracts this alkaloid also from the leaves of Ungernea trisphaera Bge, which contains up to 0.6% lycorine, or from the leaves and bulbs of Ungernea Severzovii (Rd 1.) V. Fedtsch., which contains 0.45% lycorine in the leaves and 0.38% in the bulbs. This species is widely spread in the Tashkent region and southern Kazakhstan. The flowers are red, and the bulb diameter is 7 cm. Ungernea trisphaera has pink flowers and very large bulbs, approximately 12 cm in diameter. It grows in the mountainous areas of Turkmenistan. Additionally, lycorine can be extracted from cultivated narcissus species or from wild narcissus, such as the Narcissus tazetta L. (found in Uzbekistan), which contains 0.13% lycorine in the leaves.

Lycorine, after experimental and clinical studies, has been suggested as an expectorant, promoting increased mucus secretion. It is recommended for acute pneumonia, severe bronchitis, and bronchiectasis. The dosage is 0.1–0.2 mg in tablets, three times a day. Larger doses may cause vomiting.

A sprawling dioecious shrub up to 1.5 m tall, with thin, rod-like, straight, light yellow shoots and gray bark on older branches. The leaves are small, glabrous, and back-elliptical, with small leathery stipules. The flowers are unisexual, small, and inconspicuous, greenish. Staminate flowers are clustered in groups of 3–12 on short pedicels; there are 5 concave, oval sepals, no petals, and 5–6 stamens protruding from the calyx; the rudimentary ovary is usually divided into three parts. Pistillate flowers are solitary or in small groups (3–8), on longer (up to 1 cm) pedicels; the ovary is spherical, with 3 styles. The fruit is a drooping, three-celled capsule, flattened at the top, with 2 seeds in each cell. The seeds are smooth, bluntly triangular, with a thin seed coat. It flowers in June–July and fruits in September.

It grows singly or in small groups on rocky slopes and sandy-gravel deposits, and less frequently on forest edges. It is found primarily in the Far East along the Amur River and its tributaries, and as far west as Nerchinsk.

The raw material is collected by breaking off the leafy tops of the stems and branches from the budding to fruit ripening stages, from June to September. The plant contains alkaloids: 0.3–0.8% in the leaves, 0.2% in the upper stems; there are significantly fewer alkaloids in the fruits. The main alkaloid isolated is sekurinin.

According to literature, sekurinega suffruticosa contains suffruticodine, suffruticonine, allosekurinin, dihydrosekurinin, and sekurinol, while a Japanese variety contains virosekurin. The roots of plants from India mainly contain allosekurinin. Related species of this genus contain gordenine (flugrin), viroallosekurinin, and virosine. The alkaloid composition and their relative amounts in various forms and varieties of sekurinega suffruticosa vary greatly depending on geographic conditions and the developmental phase.

Nitric acid sekurinin is used both internally and subcutaneously as a stimulant for the nervous system. It acts similarly to strychnine but is weaker and less toxic.

It is used as a tonic in asthenic conditions, neurasthenia with rapid fatigue, hypotension, paresis, flaccid paralysis, and sexual weakness caused by nervous system dysfunction.

Excessive doses of sekurinin can lead to poisoning similar to strychnine poisoning. In such cases, swallowing becomes difficult, and painful tension in facial, occipital, and other muscles occurs, leading to convulsive muscle contractions of all skeletal muscles.

The dosage is usually 0.002 g in tablet form twice a day or a 0.4% solution (in bottles) — 10–20 drops twice a day, or a 0.2% solution (in ampoules) — 1 ml once a day subcutaneously. The treatment course lasts 30–35 days.

ANACARDIACEAE FAMILY
Trees or shrubs, rarely herbs. Leaves are typically alternate, simple or compound. Flowers are regular, with separate petals, small, in panicle inflorescences; there are 5–10 stamens and a superior ovary. The fruit is a drupe or nut.

Members of this family are rare in the USSR, mainly growing in southern regions.

Many species are rich in tannins and tannic acid, and often contain resins and essential oils found in resin ducts in the phloem of the trunk and along the leaf veins.

In the USSR, the following three genera belong to this family: Pistacia, Cotinus, Rhus. All are of medicinal importance as tanning agents.