Crow's eye is a perennial plant of the Liliaceae family, reaching up to 40 cm in height, without lower leaves, but with a four-leaf whorl at the top. It is extremely rare to come across three-leafed or five or more stems. But this is rare. The rhizome is very long, creeping. Blooms from early May to June. In July-August, a single fruit appears containing many seeds. It is located in a rosette at the very top of the plant. Crow's eye is a very poisonous plant. Its berries and roots are especially poisonous. Prefers to live in darkened and damp places. The plant is very common, living throughout Europe, in the west and east of Siberia and the Caucasus. There are more than 40 species of raven's eye in the world.
Preparation and storage of raven eyes
Crow's eye is a seasonal medicinal plant. It is used in fresh during flowering from mid-May to mid-June. Crow's eye berries are also taken only fresh. The plant is harvested for use during the flowering period, before the berries appear. The stems and leaves are cut off and then dried in the sun. It is best to store dried plants hanging in a dark, dry place.
Composition and medicinal properties of raven's eye
- Crow's eye is poisonous, so it is not used in official medicine. However, traditional healers and herbalists successfully use it as an antispasmodic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, diuretic and wound-healing agent.
- In homeopathy and folk medicine The three most widely used types of this plant are: raven eye four leaf; raven eye incomplete; raven's eye multileaf.
- The whole plant contains saponin, steroids, pyridine glycoside. The stems contain many flavonoids, the rhizome contains coumarins and vitamin C.
The use of raven's eye in folk medicine
Tinctures, decoctions and berries are used in pure form and in the form of tinctures and decoctions for a variety of diseases.
Infusion for the treatment of tuberculosis, constipation and neuroses
It is made according to the following recipe: for 0.5 vodka, take 50 grams of crow's eye grass (dried or fresh) and place it in a cool and dark place for two weeks. After the tincture has settled, filter it and take twenty drops three times a day, diluted in a small amount of water. The course of treatment is no more than two weeks. This rule applies to all potent herbal preparations. A break of 10 days is required. Then the course can be repeated.
Vodka infusion of raven's eye for concussion
The infusion is prepared as follows: for 0.5 vodka, take 4 tablespoons of grated crow's eye (berries) and place it in a dark, cool place for 10 days, then strain the infusion and take 5 drops three times a day for a week.
For neuroses and convulsions, the following tincture is effective:
For 2 grams of fresh herb, take 200 grams of alcohol, pour it in, and let it sit for a week. After filtering, take 1 tablespoon of infusion per spoon of water throughout the day every two hours.
For difficult-to-heal wounds and boils, raven's eye berries are used
Take as many berries as necessary to cover the injured surfaces, and grind the berries in a mortar. Apply the resulting ointment to wounds or boils. Only once a day! You can make lotions with ointment. Depending on the complexity of the situation, the course usually lasts no more than a week.
Crow's eye berries for heart failure
- by ten fresh berries take 05. vodka, pour it infusion for 15 days;
- take 20 drops diluted in 50 grams of water 3 times a day;
- the course of treatment is a maximum of two weeks. Then a break is taken for 10 days.
- children under 12 years old;
- pregnant women at any stage;
- during lactation;
- patients with renal failure;
- with individual intolerance.
For laryngitis, migraine, tachycardia, nervous disorders
Also, to prevent these diseases, you can prepare and take a decoction of crow’s eye: 30 grams of dry, powdered plant, heated in a water bath, in 400 ml of water, after it boils, hold for 20 minutes, let cool and filter through fine gauze and put in the refrigerator. Take 30 ml daily on an empty stomach before meals 3 times a day. The course of treatment with the decoction lasts no more than 7 days, after which medicinal properties the decoction will disappear.
Contraindications
You should not take crow's eye:
Before starting treatment for crow's eye, be sure to consult your doctor. Remember - crow's eye is a poisonous plant, you can cause serious harm to the body.
Crow's eye four-leaf (Paris quadrifolia).
Other names: common raven's eye, cross-grass, cross-grass, beshiznik, crow berries, nail-eater berry, monoberry quatrefoil.
Description. Perennial herbaceous rhizomatous plant of the Trilliaceae family; formerly Liliaceae (Liliaceae). It has a creeping rhizome with branched root shoots. The stem is erect, simple, single, 10-35 cm high.
The leaves are simple, wide, ellipsoid or obovate with a pointed tip and reticulate venation. The leaves are arranged in a whorl, usually 4, rarely 3 or 5. There is one flower, located at the top of the stem. Perianth with four outer green lanceolate leaves, and four inner smaller, narrow-linear, yellow-green leaves. Eight stamens, four styles.
Blooms in May - June. Fruit ripening begins at the end of July. The fruit is a black, four-lobed, spherical berry with a bluish coating, about 1 cm in diameter.
The crow's eye plant grows in deciduous and mixed forests, among shrubs, sometimes in meadows, pastures, slopes of ravines, and along river banks. Prefers moist loamy, humus-rich soil and semi-shaded areas.
The plant is distributed in the middle regions of the European part of Russia, Siberia, Belarus, the Caucasus, and Ukraine. Crow's eye is a poisonous plant, propagated by seeds and vegetatively.
Collection and preparation of raw materials. Crow's eye grass is used and prepared for medicinal purposes. Harvesting is carried out during the flowering period. Prepared from fresh herbs alcohol tincture.
Composition of the plant. Crow's eye grass contains alkaloids, glycosides (paradine, parastifin), flavonoids, coumarins, vitamin C. The roots contain alkaloids.
Medicinal properties, application, treatment.
Crow's eye like medicinal plant, used only in folk medicine and homeopathy. This plant has diuretic, sedative, antispasmodic, wound healing properties.
In folk medicine, an alcohol tincture of the crow's eye herb is used to improve appetite and stimulate intestinal motility, for migraines, neuralgia, pulmonary tuberculosis, laryngitis, ascites, as a sedative, and for metabolic disorders accompanied by edema.
Juice from fresh berries is used to lubricate wounds that do not heal for a long time.
In homeopathy, they are used to prepare medicines. fresh juice plants. Homeopathic preparations from crow's eye are used to treat concussions, dizziness, headaches, increased drowsiness, bronchitis, rheumatism, eye diseases (conjunctivitis with twitching of the eyelids), and inflammation of the larynx.
Dosage forms and doses.
Crow's eye herb tincture. 2 grams of finely chopped, freshly picked herbs are poured with 100 ml of 70% alcohol or strong moonshine, left for 10 days, filtered. In 1 glass cool boiled water dilute 2 teaspoons of tincture. Take 1 tablespoon every 1–3 hours, but no more than 1 glass during the day.
Warning. Since crow's eye is a poisonous plant, treatment should be carried out carefully, observing the dosage to avoid poisoning.
Poisoning with crow's eye causes a burning sensation in the mouth, esophagus, stomach, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. There may be a phenomenon of progressive depression of the heart, a decrease in vascular tone (resulting in decreased blood pressure), comatose state. Possible disturbances in kidney function (oliguria) and the development of acidemia.
Poisonous plant Crow's eye is found everywhere in middle lane, has not only poisonous, but also medicinal properties, and the symptoms of poisoning are tolerated by it human body quite difficult.
What kind of plant is this?
Every villager knows what a raven's eye looks like, but city dwellers have a very vague idea about this plant, since it is practically never found in urban areas.
The raven's eye blooms from mid-May to the end of June; a single flower blooms on the stem with a beautiful and unusual shade of petals - from rich green to sunny yellow. By the end of July or the beginning of August, in place of the flower, a single large smooth berry, blue-black, dark blue or blue with a violet tint, ripens, shiny and reminiscent of a bird's eye, which is why the plant got its name.
Why is it dangerous?
The description of crow's eye as a poisonous plant in any encyclopedia, as a rule, begins with a mention of the toxins it contains - paristifin and paradine. These substances reach their highest concentration in ripe berries and in the root, but are contained in all parts of the flower in small quantities.
When eating crow's eye berries, poisoning is accompanied by the following symptoms:
- Diarrhea that begins before nausea and vomiting.
- Dizziness, nausea and vomiting.
- Colic in the abdomen, variable localization, that is, they alternately appear in the stomach, liver, kidneys, and lower abdomen.
- Spontaneous muscle cramps, muscles most often cramp in the legs, but can also cramp in the arms, face, back, and so on.
- Disturbances in the functioning of the heart - rhythm failure, delay in contractions. Sometimes it is quite long – over a minute.
However, the negative effect of berries on the human body depends on many nuances - the amount eaten, weight and age, condition cardiovascular system. For example, if an adult with healthy heart and weighing at least 60 kg will eat 4-6 berries, then the maximum that he will feel is a laxative effect, and that is quite weak.
Also, nothing bad will happen if 2-3 berries are eaten by a child over 6 years old and weighing normally for his age. But, if a healthy adult eats a glass of these berries, poisoning is inevitable, and for a child under 3 years old, 1-2 berries will be enough to start intoxication.
The biggest danger of poisoning from crow's eye is that the toxins it contains slow down the heart rate and with a sufficient degree of susceptibility to them or with very large volume eating berries can cause it to stop completely.
Help with intoxication with raven eye poison also involves actions that are standard for all types of poisoning, that is, taking , but in addition, the victim is recommended to take anticonvulsants and medications that normalize heart rhythm, for example, Strophanthin.
Under no circumstances should you use fixing medications or any anti-diarrhea or diarrhea medications for this type of poisoning.
Consequences of poisoning
The poisonous power of this plant does not cause irreparable damage to health, unless, of course, it is eaten very large number berries or no cardiac pathologies, for example, arrhythmia or hypertension.
The worst thing that can happen in case of poisoning is cardiac arrest, but this is a current symptom, and not a consequence of the berries entering the body.
After the stomach has been rinsed and the necessary medications have been taken, the person will continue to experience diarrhea for some time; usually, weak stools last from 2 to 5 days. This point also depends on the amount of berries that have entered the stomach and the state of health, namely the intestines.
Pain in the heart, with a large amount of toxin or the presence of cardiac pathologies, will last after the poisoning has already been cured, for another week to a month. During the first week after intoxication, convulsions may appear, especially during sleep and localized in calf muscles.
Intoxication caused by intoxication not from flowers or berries of the crow's eye, but from medicinal infusions prepared from the root and other parts of this plant, is much more serious for health. At wrong scheme treatment with them, exceeding the dosage and frequency of consumption almost always develop:
- heart disease taking chronic form;
- neurosomatic pathologies;
- insomnia, mania, depression.
In people prone to schizophrenia, with systematic abuse of drugs made from berries and crow's eye root, this disease will inevitably manifest itself and begin to progress very quickly, literally before our eyes.
What beneficial properties does it have?
Crow's eye - a flower, although poisonous, has incomparable healing properties, used by healers for more than one or two centuries. Moreover, extracts from various parts of this plant are components of many modern medicines and are included in some dietary supplements.
In folk medicine, absolutely all parts of this plant are used, each of which helps against certain ailments.
The grass, that is, the leaves and stem of the crow's eye, cures the following diseases:
- Migraines of unknown origin.
- Neuralgia of all types.
- Ascites.
- Pulmonary tuberculosis in the initial stage.
- Metabolic disorders.
- Muscle spasms and convulsions of nervous origin, that is, this herb actually helps with epilepsy and pseudoepilepsy.
The berries and rhizomes of the plant, more precisely, an infusion of them, are used to treat:
- Cardiovascular diseases, characterized by an excessively fast, “shallow” heartbeat.
- Problems with bowel function, such as constipation.
- Health problems caused by intestinal slagging, intestinal obstruction, “clogged” cecum, and so on.
- Lethargic, lethargic nervous activity, including chronic fatigue syndrome and excessive sleepiness.
Also, infusions of berries and roots are used to normalize metabolic processes and accelerate metabolic processes in the body, increasing appetite and maximum absorption of food, that is, with a good appetite, a person not only does not gain kilograms, but also loses overweight.
The crow's eye flower is not used by healers or pharmacists, since it contains virtually no active substances that can affect human health. However, the flower of this plant is not at all useless; for example, a bouquet of it left in the room helps good rest, relieves headaches and repels insects.
Video: raven eye.
Are there any contraindications to treatment with this plant extract?
A description of the healing properties of the Crow's Eye would be incomplete without mention of contraindications to treatment with infusions and preparations made from this plant.
In addition to relative contraindications, for example, nervous overexcitation caused by stress, atrial fibrillation, or a hereditary tendency to certain mental pathologies, such as schizophrenia, there are also complete contraindications, in the presence of which it is under no circumstances possible to be treated with products containing crow's eye, as and use dietary supplements with it.
One hundred percent contraindications include:
- Pregnancy.
- Lactation.
- A number of nervous diseases that are accompanied by hyperactive behavior and overexcitation nervous system.
- A stroke, even if several years have passed since it.
- A number of cardiac pathologies characterized by a slow heart rhythm and sluggish contractions, as well as underdeveloped valves and ventricles.
- Age under 12 years.
- All sleep disturbances.
- Brain tumors.
- Internal intestinal bleeding.
There are no other absolute contraindications to treatment with Crow's Eye or to the use of dietary supplements containing it. But before you start taking infusions from this flower or active additives with it, you should consult your doctor.
It is especially important to discuss the dosage regimen and dosage, taking into account individual health indicators, since, despite the obvious benefits, crow's eye is still a very poisonous plant and can cause harm if taken incorrectly.
The origin of the name of this plant is beautiful legend that in the hollow of an old oak tree lived a magician with his old raven. And he endowed the raven with the gift of foreseeing the future, and taught him to avoid people. After the old man died, the bird flew over the forest and during the day predicted the future in its bird language, and at night mourned its friend, shedding large tears, from which a plant grew with a beautiful and large berry. Crow's eye plant, found in moist coniferous and deciduous forests (mainly in shady places), is extremely dangerous and poisonous, so beginners in the business of walking and collecting forest gifts must know what it looks like.
Crow's eye - how to recognize?
The plant is not tall: 10-40 centimeters, in the upper part of the stem there is a whorl, usually of 4 leaves, although there are often specimens with 3 or 5 leaves of an ovoid or oval shape with pointed tips. The whorl of leaves in May-June is crowned with a greenish-yellow inconspicuous flower, and in July-August - a rather large dark blue berry with a large number seeds, which somewhat resembles a pearl. Crow's eye smells quite unpleasant and pungent; inhaling this smell for a long time can cause a headache. After frost, the entire above-ground part dies off and a long rhizome remains, which produces new shoots in the spring. The main danger of the crow's eye is for those who are just starting to collect wild berries, as it can be confused with large blueberries or blueberries. It should be noted, however, that the fruits of these plants are located completely differently relative to the leaves and shoots. The plant is distributed in the European territory of Russia, Siberia, the Caucasus, as well as in Ukraine and Belarus.
Symptoms of berry poisoning and medical care
As you know, crow's eye is a poisonous plant; the main danger is the fruit, leaves and roots. A couple of berries are unlikely to cause anything terrible, although rinsing your stomach or drinking a laxative would be a good idea. It’s worse if a fairly large number of berries were eaten, especially if a child did it, and children often “fall for” the beauty and attractiveness of the berries. Symptoms of poisoning include abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. In addition, the plant affects the functioning of the heart and central nervous system and may have some narcotic effects. If such symptoms appear and you suspect poisoning with these berries, you should rinse your stomach and take a laxative. In severe cases and if there is any doubt, you should consult a doctor.
Poison in small doses is medicine
Crow's eye is widely used in alternative and folk medicine to treat various diseases. Decoctions and tinctures of it are used for tuberculosis, laryngitis, neuralgia, and bronchial diseases. In addition, homeopaths use crow's eye to treat headaches, neuroses, rheumatism, concussions, mental disorders and heart disease. The juice of the plant is used to treat poorly healing wounds and abrasions. Tibetan medicine uses it to heal fractures. In official medicine, however, the raven eye is not used.