Chamomile – Achillea millefolium
Description of Medical Stool Grass/Camomile:
Matricaria Chamomilla L. (Old or other familiar names: chamomile, chamomile, chamomile, motherwort, moor-grass, yarrow, dandelion, prickly pear, chickweed, chickweed, chickweed, chamomile) Nests – Compositae Chamomile is an annual plant. Stems grow to 20 cm. long, very twiggy-twiggy, glabrous. Leaves are bright green, glabrous, glabrous, glabrous, double-winged, with fine, fibrous, thread-like frills. Its flowers form single heads at the ends of the branches. The head is surrounded on the outside by small scale-like leaflets, which overlap like shingles, with membranous margins and blunt tips. The centre of the head is bulging and yellow; the flange is white. Both the centre and the flange of the nest are composed of a few small, very dense flowers. The flange is usually made up of 12 to 20 small white flowers, while the centre of the head is made up of many even smaller yellow flowers. During flowering, the centre of the head opens up, so that when the head is cut in two, the stalk protrudes in a conical shape. The white-coloured flange is protruding at first, but later becomes drooping, which is very characteristic of the sedge flower. It also has a characteristic smell, which makes it easily recognisable. Similar to the sedge is the parlagi and heavy-scented montica or pipit-herb (Anthemis arvensis l. and A. cotula l.), from which it differs, however, partly by its differently shaped leaves, partly by its characteristic odour and partly by its conical and hollow head. It flowers from May to August.
Occurrence:
Stoolgrass is a very common plant in our area. It is very common on roads and even on paths, in the fields and gardens. In the salt marshes of our country it is found in masses in whole crops. It often occurs as a weed. It is especially abundant on saline soils, where in some places it covers the whole area. In these places the grass is collected in large quantities and some areas are sown. It is the most important article of the domestic herb export trade, a much sought-after commodity which can be sold well. It is found in large quantities in Europe, Russian Asia and even in Australia.
Medicinal properties and uses of medical stool-grass:
Stool grass is one of our most important medicinal plants. Its flowers contain a volatile oil and a bitter substance; they have a strong balsamic odour and a spicy bitter taste. They are used to make chair-grass tea, the use of which is widespread, and which is used in every house to treat stomach ailments. It is sold under the name flores chamonillae vulgaris . They are used to make extracts, water and oil. In addition to stomach ailments, it is also used as a stomach tonic, an antispasmodic, a sedative and diaphoretic, and externally as a poultice. It was also one of the most valuable plants in folk home medicine. In cosmetics, it was used for hair care and to make various hair washing powders. Its essential oil was also produced separately.
Active ingredient:
Essential oil containing 0.14-0.35%, resin, bitter, anthemidine, anthemic acid.
Intake:
The harvesting of Stoolwort has provided a great income to the people of our country, inasmuch as we have had a considerable export of this plant. It is harvested in late May or early June, when the flowers are fully developed. It is advisable to pick it in dry sunny weather. Only the flower heads should be picked, preferably without the stems, and after picking the flowers should be quickly air-dried. It is best to spread the picked flowers in a thin layer on a tarpaulin and leave them undisturbed until they are completely dry. 
The most valuable are the short-stemmed sedge flowers, which have retained their golden yellow colour and on which the white-coloured carmine flowers have remained intact. If you want to pick and dry a large quantity of sedge flowers rather than first-rate goods, you can cut the flowers in the field with a large wooden comb, then roughly clean the stems off the flowers and spread them out in a thin layer in the attic to dry. With a little practice, a 12-13 year old girl can burn 40-50 kilos of fresh sedge flowers a day. It should be noted that the sedge flowers should not be turned while drying, as this will cause them to become dusty and crushed, which will cause them to lose much of their value. 4-5 kg of fresh flowers will yield 1 kg of dry flowers. It is advisable to pack the dry stool grass in barrels, but it can also be packed in bags. In Germany, there is already a large cultivation of stool grass between Leipzig and Altenburg. Its cultivation is simple, by sowing seeds. Its seeds can be sown from April to August, e.g. in shallowly hoed stubble or after early potatoes. Occurrence Medicinal properties Active ingredient Collection Source: Dr. Ferenc Darvas and Dr Gyula Magyary-Kossa,Domestic herbs, their production, marketing, effects and medicinal uses Béla Páter, Wild medicinal plants, their production, use and distribution
