Achirantes, or a rough Strawflower, or Ahirant, or Zheleznik (lat.Achyranthes aspera) – a genus of flowering plants of the Amaranth family (Amaranthaceae).
They grow in the Americas, in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate zones of Eurasia, on the islands of the Pacific Ocean.
Rough Strawflower – a perennial herbaceous plant up to 1 m tall.
The stem is ascending or upright.
Cross-pair leaf location. The leaf has a petiole, oval or rounded in shape (sometimes diamond-shaped), the edges are solid.
Inflorescences are terminal and axillary, equipped with a stalk, elongated, multi-flowered, spike-shaped.
Bisexual flowers equipped with three bracts. Perianth 4-5-membered. Stamens 4-5, at the base they are merged into a column and alternate with pseudostaminodinium.
The fruit is a box with one vertical seed.
In the wild, the Rough Strawflower is found in the regions of East and Southeast Asia (India, Nepal, China). Grows on the side of the road.
For therapeutic purposes, use roots, flowers, leaves, seeds, stems, the whole plant, but the root is considered the most effective. Roots can be harvested almost all year round. After collection, they are thoroughly washed and dried in the sun or in dryers. The leaves and seeds of the straw are edible.
Chemical composition
The roots contain triterpene saponins, which upon hydrolysis produce oleanolic acid and a carbohydrate moiety consisting of glucose, galactose, and rhamnose.
Rough Strawflower is a very popular medicinal plant in Asia, and each region has its own name. In Nepal, it is the most common medicinal plant.
Regional healers use strawberries in the treatment of asthma, bleeding, furunculosis, bronchitis, colds, coughs, stomach cramps, impotence, dropsy, with hearing loss, headache, pneumonia, and renal complications.
In India, the Strawflower is called amapara or amapadra and this means a plant that brings good luck and repels poisonous snakes and insects.
Strawflower was used in Ayurveda as early as 2000 years ago as a remedy for a variety of ailments, as well as a plant that can enhance the effect and biological activity of other medicinal herbs.
Due to such a valuable and rare quality, the rough strawflower is very widely used in various herbs. A strawflower is used in the form of a tablet, powder, medicine, decoction, paste, as well as an ash residue during the combustion of a plant.
It is used as an expectorant, antipyretic, bactericidal, diuretic, for kidney stones, for insomnia, intestinal disorders, with water phobia (rabies), to relieve irritability.
Plant preparations are also used to treat dropsy, rheumatism, stomach problems, cholera, skin diseases. In the treatment of diarrhea and dysentery, a decoction of leaves is used. Strawflower juice is used to treat furunculosis, hemorrhoids, dysentery, rheumatic pains, scabies, itching and skin rashes. The ash from the burned grass of a strawflower is mixed with mustard oil and a pinch of salt, and the resulting product is used as an excellent tooth powder. It is established that the ash residue of the grass of a strawflower is a rich source of potassium. Such a tool also prevents and treats periodontal disease and toothache. The roots of the plant have a diuretic, antispasmodic and astringent property. A paste is prepared from the leaves, which is used to treat rabies, nervous disorders, hysteria, and even with insect bites and even snakes. Dry plant branches are used as toothbrushes.
Rough Strawflower Application:
- in the treatment of gastric diseases;
- with dysentery and diarrhea;
- to relieve irritability and hysteria;
- with insomnia;
- with rabies;
- for the treatment of cholera;
- with rheumatism;
- with furunculosis and hemorrhoids;
- with periodontal disease and toothache.
Included in Tyro Ultra.