Daurian Moonseed

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Daurian moonseed is one of the plants of the family called moonseed, in Latin the name of this plant will sound as follows: Menispermum dauricum L. As for the name of the family of the Daurian moonseed, in Latin it will be: Menispermaceae Juss.

Description of Daurian moonseed

The Daurian moonseed is a liana, the length of which will fluctuate between two and five meters. The stems of this plant will be climbing, they twine around grasses or shrubs, in addition, such stems can be recumbent, in the event that there is no suitable support for them. The bark of the stems of this plant is colored in dark gray tones, it is fissured and corky. The diameter at the base of the stem is about five to seven millimeters. The leaves of the dahurian moonseed are alternate and long-petiolate, they are thyroid, endowed with three to five lobes, but at the same time they can rarely be whole. The length of such blades is equal to six to twelve centimeters, they will be shiny and leathery. The plant is dioecious. The flowers of the dahurian moonseed are in rather short paniculate inflorescences, they are rather small in size and are painted in whitish-green tones. The fruits of this plant are juicy drupes, the diameter of which reaches one centimeter. Such fruits are colored in black tones, they are endowed with one crescent seed, as well as dark purple juice. It is noteworthy that the fruits of this plant will be poisonous.

Description of the medicinal properties of the Daurian moonseed

The dahurian moonseed is endowed with very valuable medicinal properties, while for medicinal purposes it is recommended to use the herb, leaves, roots and rhizomes of this plant. The presence of such valuable healing properties of this plant should be explained by the content and composition of tannins, berberine, coumarins, saponins, resins and the following alkaloids: akutumin, akutumidin, dauricin, sinomenin, menisperin, stefarin, magnoflorin, dauricinolin. The leaves of this plant also contain alkaloids, while the stems and leaves will contain flavonoids and coumarins.

As for Tibetan and Chinese medicine, an infusion prepared on the basis of the herb of this plant is quite widespread. Such a healing agent is recommended to be used as a diuretic and pain reliever for nephritis. Tincture of the roots of this plant is used as a very effective remedy that will tone up the gastrointestinal tract, as well as improve metabolism. In addition, such an infusion is indicated for use even with cholecystitis and endometritis.

A decoction, prepared on the basis of the herb Daurian moonseed, should be used in folk medicine as an expectorant for pneumonia, and also as a diaphoretic for febrile conditions. In addition, such a decoction is also effective for various gynecological diseases. Tincture and decoction of rhizomes of dahurian moonseed is recommended to be used to reduce headaches, increase efficiency, improve well-being and reduce the excitability of the autonomic nervous system.

Preparations based on the leaves of this plant, in turn, will increase the amplitude of heart contractions, reduce arterial exposure, while not significantly affecting the rhythms of heart contractions. It should be noted that the Daurian moonseed is a poisonous plant, and there have even been known cases of poisoning with its berries: for this reason, care should be taken when handling this plant.