Description
Herbaceous, vivaceous plant that comes out in spring and produces a rosette of elongated lanceolate leaves although obtuse, pale green on the upper side and white on the back. From the axils of the basal leaves come foliated stolons that drag on the ground and finally root. These stolons have similar leaves to those of the rosette but smaller. When the plant is about to bloom, one or two diverse scapes sprout with one only capitulum at the apex. The bracts that surround it are sharp and pilose. Flower ligules are lemon yellow. The plant exudes a white latex through its wounds.
It grows in the forest edges, fields, roadsides, waste places in most part of Spain, especially in the hilly meridional half of the country. The growth of this plant denotes the dryness of the ground, as in a more productive land, other plants take its place.
Part used
Aerial apex and/or the whole plant.
Indications
- In cases where it is necessary to increase diuresis: genitourinary disorders (cystitis, uretheritis, urethritis, pyelonephritis, oliguria, urolithiasis), hyperazotemia and hyperuricemia.
- Adjuvant in the treatment of gout, arterial hypertension and overweight with water retention.
- Hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis.
Bibliography
- Plantas Medicinales. El Dioscórides renovado. Pío Font Quer. Editorial Labor. 15ª edición 1995.
- Fitoterapia.net
