Equisetum arvense (horsetail, snake grass, puzzlegrass)
Characteristics
Main applications:
Rheumatism
Medicinal properties:
blood purifier,
hemostatic,
anti-inflammatory,
diuretic
Applications:
Bladder weakness,
Kidney weakness,
Circulatory disorders,
Weak menstruation,
bleeding,
Chilblains,
varicose veins,
Rheumatic pains,
edema,
Dropsy,
wounds
Skin inflammation,
After itching
scientific name:
Equisetum arvense
Family:
Horsetail Family = Equisetaceae
Alternative names:
horsetails,
snake grass,
puzzlegrass
Used plant parts:
summer shoots
Ingredients:
Silica, saponins, flavones, calcium, potassium, magnesium, other trace elements
Collection time:
May - July
Application
inwardly:
Internally, horsetail is used primarily as tea.
The tea must be prepared as a decoction and cook for at least 20 minutes to dissolve the silica from the plants.
You can use the tea if you want to do something good for your urinary apparatus or connective tissue.
For hemostasis is best fresh press juice.
Externally
Externally, the horsetail is suitable as a full, partial bath, wrap or overlay. For this purpose, a larger amount of tea is cooked as needed.
As a bath, the tea is diluted with water. For a full bath you have to expect about 150 g horsetail.
Wraps and pads, e.g. in the case of eczema, ulcers, etc., the tea is dipped and placed on the affected areas.
Interesting facts
Already in the Middle Ages, the priest Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1897) discovered that horsetail can be used against cancer. So he is said to have brought to a standstill benign or malignant tumors, of which the plant biologist Richard Willfort (1905-1978) was convinced. Wraps or envelopes that have been placed on the cancerous body parts should help to dissolve or at least stop it.
For this, horsetail is heated and then "carried" over the night as a solid envelope. The ingredients of this medicinal plant support the body and ensure that the immune system is boosted. This protects you against other illnesses, and at the same time, the body can fight the cancer cells better because it can concentrate fully on it.
also interesting:
Trees and thus forests developed already 380 million years ago and accompany since then the life on the earth. The "great tree" was Bärlapp, horsetail and fern trees.