Cinquefoil is a perennial herb and belongs to the Rosaceae family. Where it is found, it is also called the five-leafed and the five-fingered.
In Russia, the places where Potentilla white grows are the chernozem regions of the European part; to the north, it is found, but rarely, and absent in the south. The plant prefers slopes, dry light forests, grows well on light sandy soils. The plant is picky and can take root in both wet and dry soils, in conditions of poor nutrients. Wherever it grows, it is rare and scattered, in separate specimens. The plant is rare and is listed in the Red Data Books of the Moscow, Lipetsk, Ryazan regions.
Cinquefoil blooms from April to June, bears fruit in June-July. Collect it as a medicinal raw material during the flowering period. It is dug out with a rhizome, while caution is required, since the length of the root in some cases is up to 80 cm. Collecting Potentilla as a medicinal raw material can be carried out starting from 2-3 years of age.
The height of the plant is 10-15 cm, the root is thick, woody, oblique and black-brown, light, branched on the cut. Shoots extending from the apex of the root form a basal rosette, they are numerous and have a shortened shape. With the exception of the upper side of adult leaves, the whole plant is covered with adpressed silky hairs.
Basal leaves are long-petiolate and palmate, they consist of 5 leaves, almost whole, oblong-lanceolate with several teeth at the apex. The stems of the cinquefoil peduncles are thin, ascending, emerge from the axils of the basal rosette and have from 1 to 3 trifoliate leaves. Inflorescences are white, up to 3 cm in diameter, regular shape with 5 petals, collected in semi-umbrellas of 2-4 pcs., Bisexual. Form fruits - wrinkled and hairy at the base of the nut.
The underground part of the plant contains carbohydrates and starch, saponins, flavonoids and tannins, and elemental iodine is also found in it. The medicinal properties of white cinquefoil are multifaceted and varied. The plant helps to eliminate disorders of the decreased and increased functions of the thyroid gland, the therapeutic efficacy of the plant has been clinically confirmed. White cinquefoil exhibits antibacterial activity. Tincture from the root of the plant is used very widely: it improves heart function, is used for rheumatism, enterocolitis, improves blood composition, is used for liver diseases and anemia. It has been proven that using cinquefoil, you can remove radiation, reduce cholesterol levels. The use of the tincture normalizes the monthly cycle, resolves cysts and fibroids, and strengthens the immune system.
The beneficial properties of Potentilla are due to the unique chemical composition, which has not yet been fully studied. The plant is contraindicated for use in hypertensive patients and in hypothyroidism, as it helps to lower blood pressure. The rest of the white matter contained in the cinquefoil is non-toxic and has no side effects on the body.
