Field hyssop – Equisetum arense

Description of Field Hyssop:

Equisetum arense L. (Old or other familiar names: poppy, frog’s foot, colt’s tail, cane grass, horsetail, leadweed, pigweed, bellflower, horsetail.) Sorrel – Equisetaceae Perennial plant with a hairy capital. Productive stems about a quarter of a metre tall, reddish to yellowish brown in colour, and develop in early spring. Stems develop only later, after the stems have withered, and are green, 30-60 cm tall. The stems are long, furrowed and divided into joints by knots. Its branches are in whorls on the nodes. The leaves are small pod-like formations.

Occurrence:

Found almost everywhere on sandy, loamy soils. In our country, it is found everywhere along ditches, in sandy, clayey, damp meadows, in the southernmost parts of the Great Plain and in mountainous areas.

Part of it to be collected:

The leafy (barren) stem, which is sold as herba equiseti.

Harvesting and drying:

The above ground part of the plant should be collected between the months of May and June. The collected part of the plant should not be exposed to direct sunlight when drying, and it is best to dry it in a ventilated attic.

Processing:

Because of its succinic acid content, it is used in medicine, particularly for making decoctions and as a component of certain tea mixtures. It is also one of the ingredients of Karlsbad tea.

Active ingredients:

It is very rich in silicic acid, equisetic acid, fatty oil and resins. Occurrence Active ingredient Collection Source: Béla Páter, The wild herbs Dr. Ferenc Darvas and Dr. Gyula Magyary-Kossa,Domestic medicinal plants, their production, marketing, effects and medicinal uses