|
Hardhay
(Hypericum
perforatum)
Its therapeutic features have been
well-known ever since Antiquity. Therefore, its name is famous,
too. Galen's' manuscripts (one of the fathers of pharmacology),
which are kept in Vatican, describe it as a useful cure for a lot
of diseases.
 Hardhay
is a herbaceous perennial plant; it may be found in the fields,
all over Romania, up to the sub alpine area (mainly in the hill
area). It has a straight trunk, wooden lower area; it reaches up
to 20-100 cm in height and has many flowerless branches. The
leaves are oval and opposed every other two; if you watch them
into the light, you can see some small black spots on their sides,
and transparent spots all over the leaves. The flowers are yellow
and they are gathered into wreathes; they have five petals and
black spots on each of them. It is in bloom and may be harvested,
from June to September. It produces a dark-red substance –
you can see it easily when you prepare the tincture due to its
colour. It is important to consider the criteria which
distinguishes it from other similar plants. Therefore, neither the
trunk nor the leaves are not hairy, leaves are oval and have no
bold point; they have both black and transparent spots.
 As
I have already said, the harvesting may be made when in bloom,
preferably in the morning, when the sky is clear and the dew dries
out. You should get rid of old flowers and dry it in warm dry dark
places; you should spread it into thin layers or tie it up in thin
bouquets.
Use and processing
differ according to the disease they
should cure. Therefore:
Infusion
Take one spoonful of slashed plant,
put it in a cup of hot water (200 ml), cover it and filter it
after 15-20 minutes. Drink two-three cups a day (sugarless) for
curing "lazy gall" or chronic enterocolitis. For persons
suffer from water retention, the infusion should be prepared
according to the same recipe, but people should drink it also for
hyper-acid gastritis, stomach ulcer, chronic hepatitis, chronic
colitis and cholecystitis.
Oil soaking
Take 20 g of smashed hardhay, soak
it into 20 ml of alcohol (at least 70%) for 12 hours, and add 200
ml of sun-flower oil. Keep it for another 2-3 days and filter
it. Keep the juice into dark-coloured bottles, in cool places.
Take a teaspoon of hardhay oil after each meal for curing: "lazy"
gall, stimulating hepatic ability, against hyper-acid gastritis
and stomach ulcer.
Tincture
Take: hardhay - 40 g, balm mint - 30
g, Valerian - 15 g and lavender - 15 g; let them dissove for 5-7
days into 700 ml of alcohol (60%) and filter it. It is recommended
against blood hyper-pressure (on nervous grounds),
nervous-vegetative dystopia, menopause, irascibility, and
psycho-motive restlessness. Keep the tincture
into dark-coloured bottles, in cool place. Use and dosage: drop
several drops, after meals (the dosage differs according to age:
2-5 years old - 3 times a day/4-7 drops; 5-12 years old - 3 time a
day/7-10 drops; over 13 years old - 3 times a day/10-20 drops).
Gargle
Use an infusion made of two
teaspoons of smashed plant dissolved into a cup of hot water. Use
it to heal gingivitis, dental infections (you might mix it with
plantain, into equal proportions), and wounds. Do some gargle
every day, one before going to sleep (at night).
Cataplasms
Use an infusion made of 30 g plant
into a litre of boiled water. Cover and
let it for 20 minutes then, filter it and use it for compress
(wounds and neuralgia).
Oil Mixture Potion
Use a handful of fresh flowers in a
glass pot, and add oil to cover up the flowers. Cover the pot and
let it in the sunshine for 6-7 days then, filter it; keep it into
a dark-coloured glass pot, in cool place. Use it to soothe any
wound, eczema, burns or rheumatism.
Hardhay is a valuable remedy for we
use it together with other plants for curing diseases such as:
abdominal distension, intestinal colics, hemorrhoids,
dysmenorrhea, menopause, bronchitis, gout, nervous restlessness
and blood hyper-pressure.
Warning! When
using any hardhay-made medicine, do not take sunbaths, because it
may cause reactions of photo sensitivity.
by Robert Gergely
Chemist
|
