Acorus refers to perennial herbaceous plants. An adult plant reaches a height of about 120 cm, has a flattened stem with a one-sided sharp rib, pointed xiphoid leaves and small green flowers collected on the cob.
Only calamus roots have healing properties. By the way, the rhizome of this plant is branched, which allows you to collect a lot of raw materials. The main place of its growth is swamps, banks of rivers and lakes, meadows.
How calamus roots are collected and stored
As already mentioned, only the root of the plant is endowed with healing properties. The collection of raw materials usually falls in autumn (September-October). This period is characterized by a decrease in the water level in reservoirs, which greatly facilitates the process. During the collection, the plant is completely dug up, the root is cleaned of silt and earth, separated from the stem and adventitious roots and washed. The peeled and dried root is cut into pieces of 10-20 cm and left inventilated area (not in direct sunlight) for a while. When the raw material is a little dried up, it is peeled and dried, spreading it out as thinly as possible. Recall that the sun's rays should not fall on the roots of the calamus, and air should constantly circulate in the room. Store finished medicinal raw materials in canvas or paper bags.
Calamus root: medicinal properties
This plant has long been known for its healing properties. Even our great-grandfathers prepared alcohol tinctures and infusions from its roots for the treatment of the stomach and nervous system, as well as powders for external use in inflammatory processes. Calamus roots contain tannins, esters, acarin, ascorbic acid, calamine alkaloid, starch. Due to this rich composition, it is successfully used to treat inflammation (both internal and external), stomach and duodenal ulcers, diarrhea and other disorders in the digestive system. Also, funds with this root help to remove stones from the kidneys and increase appetite. Does calamus root have side effects? Reviews of hypotensive patients suggest that it should be used with caution: it helps to reduce pressure. It is also not recommended to use it for a long time: it contains a small amount of b-azarone, which tends to accumulate in the body and adversely affect some organs and even systems.
Recipes using calamus root
- Whenbowel disease, treatment with a decoction of rice (2 tablespoons) and calamus root (10 g) is quite effective. To prepare rice groats and chopped calamus root, pour 400 ml of cold water (2 cups) and boil for 20 minutes. The cooled and filtered broth is drunk instead of food at least 3 times a day. The general course of treatment is 2 days.
- To prepare a healing infusion, 3 parts of dry rowan fruits and 1 part of crushed calamus root are taken. One spoonful of this raw material is poured into a glass of water, insisted for an hour, and then brought to a boil, insisted and cooled. This miracle remedy should be taken half a cup three times a day before meals.
- Calamus roots are useful for inflammation of the gums and mouth. In such cases, an infusion is prepared from a teaspoon of raw materials and 1.5 cups of boiling water. Raw materials are infused for 2 hours, and heated up immediately before the rinsing procedure.
- For the treatment of cough and even tuberculosis, calamus vodka is prepared: the roots (50 g) are infused with alcohol (0.5 l). Before use, the mixture is diluted with warm water so that it is not so strong. Drinking vodka should not be more than once a day, but this is enough to improve the patient's condition.
- Externally, calamus root is used along with hop cones and burdock root to rinse hair prone to falling out.
