perennial herbaceous plant with a long creeping rhizome, dressed in vaginal leaves. The stem of the crow's eye is straight, erect, 15-30 cm high. Leaves, for the most part in number 4 (rarely 5, 6, 8 - as an exception), in a whorl, in the upper part of the stem, broadly elliptical, obovate, short-pointed, almost sessile with three veins and their converging branches. Flowers - one for each plant. Perianth consists of two rows of leaflets: 4-6 outer, wider, and 4-6 inner narrow yellowish. The latter remain near the fruit - a bluish-black berry. blooms raven eye in May-June.

Where the raven eye grows.

Grows in shady, mostly deciduous forests, thickets. The raven eye is widespread in forest areas and in the forest-steppe.

You will not meet dense thickets of a crow's eye - it grows singly, only sometimes, walking along the damp slope of a shady ravine in a dense forest, you will find a dozen plants, then again, after about a hundred meters, you will stumble upon a different sides brood of cross-grass.
In autumn, the crow's eye is visible from afar, it is easier to find it, and in the spring, in May, when it is necessary to collect leaves, it is not so easy to see it in thick grass.

Collect the whole plant during flowering and insist fresh in alcohol.
The raven eye is a very poisonous plant; causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, especially berries and rhizomes.

The raven eye is used in folk medicine.

The people use alcohol tincture of the crow's eye for pulmonary tuberculosis, as an appetite stimulant and enhances intestinal motility. In 1 glass of water, dilute 2 teaspoons of this tincture and take 1 tablespoon every 1-2 hours, but not more than one glass during the day. Excessive doses cause vomiting. It is claimed that taking such a tincture has a calming effect on the nerves.

One of its popular names is cross-grass. In the forests, this low plant is quite often found with four wide leaves arranged crosswise, and in the center where they converge is a single lilac-gray berry, blackening to late autumn. Very poisonous berry, like the whole plant, along with a long and creeping rhizome.

Folk use of the raven eye plant.

Serious grass, life-threatening, and serious diseases are treated. Crow's eye grass, collected during flowering, is used for neuralgia, migraine, pulmonary tuberculosis, ascites, convulsions, metabolic disorders, and berries - for heart disease and some other diseases.
I do not advise self-medication, but I will give a few recipes as an example.

The use of the raven eye plant for concussion.

The tincture is being prepared. 4 tablespoons dried herb pour 0.5 liters of vodka, insist in a dark, warm place for 9 days. Take 5 drops from a pipette in a glass of water 2-3 times a day.

Crow's eye in nervous tics.

2 tablespoons of vodka tincture of leaves prepared according to the indicated recipe, diluted in a glass of boiled water and drink 1 tablespoon every 2 hours during the day until the annoying tick under the eye or other similar twitches in the body completely disappear. Sometimes a few doses of the medicine are enough for the tic to go away.

The use of the herb raven eye for convulsions.

Just dilute in a glass of water 2 tablespoons of vodka tincture of crow's eye leaves and also take 1 tablespoon every two hours. In severe convulsive conditions, the same dose can be taken every hour (but not more than a glass per day).

The use of the raven eye plant in heart failure.

10-12 fresh berries insist in 0.5 liters of vodka for 15 days. Take 20-30 drops in a glass of water 3 times a day. The course of treatment is 3 weeks, after which it is necessary to take a break for 10 days. If necessary, you can conduct several such courses.

Crow's eye contraindications.

Do not exceed the indicated dosages. Do not use for insomnia. Monitor blood pressure for hypertension.
The raven eye is not indicated during pregnancy.

The raven eye is a herbaceous low plant belonging to the Melantiev family. This poisonous plant has been known since ancient times. Previously, it was believed that the berries protect from evil spells and saves from diseases during pestilence. The crow's eye has many names, among them is a cross - grass, cuckoo's tears, wolf's eyes, bear berries.

There are over twenty various kinds raven eye plants. The most common is the four-leaf raven eye. All species of this family are not very large herbaceous plants. They are perennials. On the winter period the green part of the plant dies off, and the next spring a new shoot appears from the root.

The plant reaches a height of forty centimeters. Straight, ribbed stem. The leaves are very wide, with pointed ends. They are located crosswise - crosswise at the very base of the stem. Each plant has four to six leaves.

On one shoot, one nondescript flower is formed, which consists of four yellow petals - Green colour and four green outer sepals. The flower looks like a small star. Crow's eye blooms from May to July. Berries begin to appear in August. The fruits are round in color, with a diameter of one centimeter. The color of the berry is black with a bluish bloom. Inside it is a large number of seeds. By appearance berries of cuckoo tears are similar to blueberries.
The crow's eye has a very long, creeping root. After winter, the root gives new green shoots.

Growth area

Where does the raven eye grow? Cuckoo's tears grow in the European part of our mainland. Berries can be found in the Caucasus, in Western Siberia, in the Crimea, in the Mediterranean countries, as well as in the Far East. The plant prefers to grow in moist and shady forests, in ravines, on mountain slopes. The soil prefers good, fertile, more often it can be seen in deciduous and mixed forests.
Mostly likes to grow singly, but it happens to meet about a dozen plants growing together.

Crow's Eye Berries

The berries of the four-leafed crow's eye fully ripen at the end of summer. They reach up to ten millimeters in diameter, black with a bluish bloom, similar to the fruits of blueberries and blueberries. There are many seeds inside. Berries have an unpleasant taste, one of their smell in humans can cause nausea and headache. Animals avoid these berries and never eat them, while birds, on the contrary, eat the fruits of the crow's eye with pleasure. Need to know distinctive features cross - herbs in order to avoid poisoning by fruits, which are very toxic.

In medical practice, three types of crow's eye are most often used:

• four leaf
• incomplete
• many-leaved

Chemical composition

The berries and other parts of the crow's eye contain very dangerous poisonous substances:

• paradin
• paristifin

Most of them are found in fruits and underground roots plants. Leaves are less toxic.

In addition there are:
flavonoids coumarins pectins steroids alkaloids vitamin C saponins glycosides
These substances are absolutely harmless to humans. In the right doses, the plant can be used to treat certain diseases.

The medicinal properties of the plant

The raven eye is a strong plant poison, its use in traditional medicine is not allowed. And in the folk it is used, but with an extreme degree of caution. Raw material for use in medicinal purposes it is better to harvest during the flowering period. The raven eye is used for the purpose of treatment completely, an alcohol tincture is prepared from the leaves and stems.

The green part is cut off at the root. This must be done with gloves. The fruits are harvested after they ripen. They are used fresh and dried. Prepare infusions, as well as decoctions.

The four-leaf raven eye is endowed with the following properties:

• soothing
• antispasmodic
• diuretics
• anti-inflammatory

The leaves, as well as the berries of the plant, have an emetic and laxative effect. A decoction of the plant is able to relieve spasms, helps with severe fever and dropsy. Berry alcohol tinctures are used in the treatment of inflammation of the larynx, migraine, increased drowsiness, and heart disease.

The raven eye serves effective medicine with the following diseases:

• with tachycardia
• with arrhythmia
• with pharyngitis
• with laryngitis
• with tuberculosis
• with bronchitis
• with neuralgia
• in violation of the endocrine system
• with edema
• with hearing impairment

In addition, the correct use of preparations from this plant can improve appetite and improve bowel function.

The plant is widely used in homeopathic medicine to get rid of nervous tics, mental disorders, conjunctivitis, and frequent inflammation of the larynx. Treatment should take place under the full supervision of a homeopathic doctor.

In official traditional medicine, this plant is recognized as poisonous and its use for the preparation of any medication is officially prohibited.

Crow's eye poisoning

For people, all parts of the crow's eye are of great danger:

• mucous irritating juice
• berries adversely affect the work of the heart and blood vessels
• roots cause nausea and severe vomiting
• leaves are bad for the nervous system

It is believed that accidentally eating up to two berries will not bring severe harm for the body. If you eat a dozen of them, severe poisoning will occur, which may well end in death. You can also get poisoning when taking the medicine, if you do not follow the doctor's recommendations and exceed the prescribed dose.

The poisonous raven eye, first of all, is dangerous for children, who can accidentally eat a few berries, confusing them with blueberries. You can distinguish them in several ways.

1. Blueberries are smaller than the berries of the poisonous plant. They are blue, while bearberries are black.
2. Blueberries grow in a dense carpet, and the poisonous raven eye prefers to grow singly. On one shoot, blueberries have several berries, and on the cross - herbs - one berry.
3. Blueberries paint hands in a rich purple color.

Fortunately, bearberries are not very palatable, so it is unlikely that you will be able to eat a lot of them.
If this happened, and a large amount was eaten, then you should know the symptoms of poisoning.

Symptoms of poisoning

These include:

• nausea
• vomit
• pain in the temporal part of the head
• dizziness
• heartburn
• diarrhea
• photophobia
• acute pain in the abdomen
• tachycardia

With very strong poisoning, speech and swallowing disorders may occur. Seizures may occur. All this can lead to death.

First aid

It is very important to provide the very first aid in case of poisoning. It consists in the complete cleansing of the stomach from parts of the plant and the removal plant residues from the intestine.
1. Gastric lavage should be done with a mixture of activated charcoal, a two percent soda solution. Soda take five grams per liter of water. Or you can drink right away large volume water.
2. Then you should give the person with poisoning an adsorbent. These include: "Smekta", "Polysorb", "Enterosgel".
3. To prevent the poison from being absorbed into the stomach and further into the intestines, it is necessary to give enveloping agents. This is egg white, milk or vegetable oil.
4. Against pain, it is better to take Anestezin and Dikain.
5. With severe vomiting, you can keep pieces of ice in your mouth. This will ease the situation.
6. With diarrhea, to prevent dehydration, you need to drink Regidron.

A poisoned person can be given strong tea. If a lot of time has passed since the poisoning, then it is necessary to do a cleansing enema, since the poison has already entered the intestines. But taking laxatives is strictly prohibited.

Treatment of poisoning

After providing first aid, you need to urgently see a doctor. It is possible that it will be necessary to introduce drugs that support the work of the heart. Depending on the condition, forced diuresis may be prescribed. It is indicated for the use of glucose intravenously to maintain the functioning of the liver and heart muscle.

In addition to the fact that the raven eye has a number of contraindications:
kidney and liver disease
pregnancy and lactation period
individual intolerance
under twelve years of age

The raven eye is a highly poisonous plant. It should be remembered that it should be used with great care and only under the supervision of the attending physician. In official medicine, the preparation of drugs from it is not allowed. It is used only in traditional medicine and homeopathy. With proper use, wolf eyes can help in the treatment a large number diseases.

The raven eye has long been known to everyone as a low plant, which is extremely famous for its bluish-dark berries. They are very similar to blueberries.

The history of grassy undergrowth is extremely interesting, which, of course, attracted many geneticists. To this day, biologists find many options for its use.

In another way, it is also called "Cross Grass", which fully justifies the cruciform arrangement of the leaves.

Our ancestors assumed that the plant sewn into clothes had witchcraft abilities. Therefore, if there was any mass illness or epidemic, then the raven eye must have been with you. But already in those days, they just tried not to use it just like that and were generally treated with apprehension.

There are about twenty varieties, since this vegetation is too common. They call her both a crow, and a nail-eater, and a stretcher, and wolf eyes.

The most common variety is the four-leafed raven eye. In addition, it is perennial, all the green leaves in the winter, and in the spring it sprouts from the rhizome again.

If you read detailed description crow's eye, it will be easier to remember it. With a ribbed erect stem, it has a size of up to 40 cm. The arrangement of the leaves in a cross is very difficult to confuse - there are mainly four in number.

When rubbed with your fingers, the juice of the plant secretes bad smell. But the flowers do not particularly stand out - as a rule, it grows alone at the very top of the stem, and there are four petals - the inner ones are greenish-yellow and green on top. The flowering period falls on the beginning of summer - May-June.

The flower looks like a small star. The round berry reaches one cm and its ripening occurs in August. The berry itself is also not difficult to distinguish - it has a black shiny color, filled with seeds.

The most difficult thing is to identify a flower or its fruit for children - they often mistake it for blueberries. The fruits are inedible even to taste, and the juice has a very nasty flavor. Not everyone can stand it - some immediately feel bad.

The harmful properties of the berry scare not only humans - animals also do not touch it, which saves them from poisoning. The curiosity is observed only in birds - they eat it a lot without dangerous consequences.

If you dig up the tubers of the crow's eye, they are curly and quite long. Grows thanks to shoots from the kidney

The raven eye grows in many regions, its geography is extensive - this is Siberia, and the Crimea, and Far East, and the Amur region. The peculiarity is that he loves shady ravine reliefs, in wet thickets of bushes, on rocky slopes. It is especially prolific in mixed forests, deciduous, but not very in a pine forest or forest-steppe zone.

The plant does not like the "Noisy Company", growing alone. Less often you can find several pieces in the aggregate in the neighborhood.

During the flowering period, they harvest for the manufacture of medicines. From green trunks and leaves good alcohol tinctures are obtained. Later fresh berries boiled, or dried for later preparation of decoctions.

Official medicine denies the possibility of using the crow's eye as a medicinal component due to its increased toxicity.. Folk tinctures and rubbing are applied with great care. It used to be believed that thanks to infusions, you can cure fever, fight nervous disorders. They also help fight constipation and have been used as an emetic.

Beliefs said that this way you can still overcome cravings for sleep, treat open wounds, fight hernias. The plant helped even from the bites of the dog. There are techniques that say that the raven eye is good for splicing bones. But all this must be applied very carefully, knowing the proportions and concentration thoroughly.

Via modern technologies find many compounds to use the healing qualities of the crow's eye, but not the fact that each of them is tested. Therefore, it is always worth consulting a doctor before taking such funds.

raven eye

Widely used in the manufacture of homeopathic remedies. For the treatment of neurological symptoms, with inflammation of the larynx, homeopathy resorts to such a well-known remedy as Paris quadrifolia, which also copes well with conjunctivitis.

Well, it is most known to everyone that the raven eye is very dangerous for humans. Incorrect intake of berries leads to dire consequences- the mucosa can be very irritated, first of all, even the smell of juice causes vomiting, taking berries is dangerous for the heart, and taking leaves is also detrimental to nervous system which most often happens to children.

To clarify the action, the tincture was injected into the body of dogs and this caused a slowdown heart rate and arrhythmias in general. No wonder it is also compared with the action of lily of the valley glucosides.

It is impossible to say that this herbaceous plant was fatally dangerous for humans, since deaths poisoning is unknown. It's all about the unpleasant taste and smell - no one will voluntarily eat leaves and berries.

But there are exceptions: children who want to try everything around become victims, because the plant looks pretty, and the berries are even more attractive. But the trouble is, after taking 10 - that berry poisoning occurs. Moreover, if you eat a couple of berries, most likely the body will not notice this.

You can get poisoned by the fruits of the eye in dosage form if you take a dose of the drug in excess of the permitted norm. In order to avoid this, you must strictly follow the recipe and doctor's recommendations, as well as take into account all the contraindications indicated in the instructions. Such drugs are not recommended during lactation, during pregnancy, as well as in patients with kidneys and liver.

Symptoms of poisoning

Determining the symptoms of crow's eye poisoning is not so difficult:

• There is sudden nausea;
• The drug causes vomiting;
• There may be an upset stomach;
• Unpleasant bitterness in the mouth, burning in the stomach and throat;
• Severe pain in the stomach;
• Migraine, dizziness.

Poisoning can be accompanied by more serious consequences. In particular difficult cases Eating berries can cause a dry mouth sensation. There may be difficulty swallowing. And also characterized by failures of the heart rhythm.

First aid

The most important thing when symptoms of poisoning are detected is to make timely cleansing of the body from the remnants of a toxic substance:

• First you need to thoroughly rinse the body, for this you can use a 2% soda solution or Activated carbon. If there is nothing like this, you need as much liquid as possible (children need to go out of the calculation of 1 glass of water for every 2 years of life);
• Use for cleaning absorbents such as Polyphepan,
• You can also relieve unpleasant and painful symptoms with milk, starch decoction, sunflower oil, egg white;
• When it's really bad, you can hold ice in your mouth - this gives a little relief;
• They also take painkillers such as Anestezin or Decoin.

With severe diarrhea, it will be necessary not only to restore the amount of fluid in the body, but also helps well.

When detoxifying, it is especially useful to drink a drink that removes poison well - strong tea. Sometimes they resort to such serious methods as an enema, if the golden time for cleansing the body has been greatly missed.

It is important to remember that taking laxatives is categorically not advised.

Treatment of poisoning

The most important thing is to turn to specialists for first aid in time. The doctor will quickly determine how serious the symptoms are - whether gastric and intestinal lavage can be dispensed with or heart medications will be required.

Sometimes also prescribed forced diuresis. For general maintenance of the body, improving the functioning of the liver, which, in fact, is waging a merciless fight against toxins and improving heart function, you may need to inject glucose intravenously

Conclusion

Beautiful berries and an interesting structure of the crow's eye hide behind them by no means useful qualities for the human body. The source of poisoning can be not only the berries themselves, but also medicines made from the plant.

An overdose of berries also leads to disastrous consequences. You can determine the poisoning by feeling unwell, vomiting and diarrhea. There is also a marked deterioration in the work of the heart.

In such cases, first aid is immediately required - urgent removal of toxins from the body. Rinse the body with absorbents and call a doctor for everyone.

However, consultation experienced professionals required in this case.. Intravenous medications may also be needed. The symptoms are not fatal, but delay will delay the healing process.

This herbaceous plant is represented by both annuals and perennials. It belongs to the Trillium (formerly Lilein) family.

The flora of the whole world has more than forty species of plants, however, the most common are incomplete, four-leaved and multi-leaved. four-leafed - the most famous member of the family due to widespread use v alternative medicine. Residents can experience both treatment and poisoning with this plant of Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Siberia and Central Asia.

Alternative plant names: wolf's eye, cross-grass, Christ's cross, rannik, beshiznik and others.

How to recognize the raven eye?

Representatives of this species are similar to each other and have only minor differences. Knowing general description wolf's eye, you can avoid the danger of accidentally eating it.

• The shoot is green, erect, solitary and smooth, reaches a height of 40 cm, crowned with a four-leaf rosette, less often three, five or more. The stem itself is leafless.
• The leaves in the whorl are wide, have an oval or ovoid shape, the tips are pointed, the veins are mesh, arranged crosswise.
• The raven eye flower is also solitary, located at the top of the stem and has eight stamens, four separate outer green petals in the shape of an elongated ellipse and four inner, narrower, greenish-yellow colors.
• The rhizome is branched, creeping, the roots grow into loose soil in different directions and have a thickness of up to 3 mm. With the first frost above-ground part the plant dies, so it hibernates and sprouts new shoots in the spring. By their number, you can determine the age of the plant.
• The berries are multi-seeded, round, smooth, about 1 cm in diameter, have a dark color with a bluish coating. It is the blue-black color that determines why the plant is so called. Observant ancestors noted some similarity of fruits with the eyes of a bird, thanks to which the crow's eye got its name.

The flowering period begins in May, ripening - at the end of July. Flowers have an unpleasant sharp smell, and getting the juice of the plant into the eyes or mucous membranes causes inflammation. Therefore, children should be protected from playing in places where wolf berries and avoid direct contact with the plant.

It lives mainly in deciduous forests, meadows and pastures, river banks and swampy areas. The area where the raven eye grows, shaded and with high humidity, as this plant avoids exposure to direct sun rays and prefers rich soil where it can reproduce vegetatively.

Crow's eye in medicine

Due to the fact that all parts of this plant, and especially the root and fruits, are poisonous and pose a threat to human health, official medicine does not resort to using it. Nevertheless, homeopathic adherents and traditional healers actively use funds based on it.

The collection and preparation of raw materials is carried out during the flowering period, decoctions and alcohol tinctures are made from the fresh juice of the crow's eye. Unripe berries of the crow's eye and rhizomes rich in alkaloids are also used.

Healing properties of the crow's eye:

• decoctions from a freshly picked plant have a calming effect and are used to treat neuralgia, mental disorders, dizziness and migraine. Also relieves increased nervous excitement;
• improves appetite, digestion, speeds up metabolism and stimulates the gastrointestinal tract;
• plant juice has a pronounced diuretic effect and helps fight edema - the result of a metabolic disorder;
• lotions are treated eye diseases and inflammation of the conjunctiva;
• fresh juice lubricates wounds that do not heal, dog bites and skin diseases;
• applicable for tuberculosis, fever, laryngotracheitis and bronchitis due to its anti-inflammatory properties;
• alcohol tinctures in homeopathic doses help with heart failure and tachycardia, restore heart rhythm.

It is permissible to use preparations based on the crow's eye only after medical consultation in a strict dosage prescribed by a doctor. Any deviation from the allowable dose can cause irreparable damage to human health.

It is contraindicated for children, pregnant women, lactating women and people with individual biological intolerance to use the wolf's eye plant for medicinal purposes. active substances in its composition.

Crow's eye poisoning

Extremely severe intoxication is caused by both the accidental use of the poisonous plant of the crow's eye as food, and the slightest deviation from the dosage recommended by the physician. Toxins are quickly absorbed into the blood and distributed throughout the body in a short period of time.

urgent ambulance must be called in the presence of at least one symptom of poisoning:

• nausea, vomiting, indigestion and pain in the intestinal tract;
• burning and dryness of the mucous membranes of the mouth and larynx;
• dizziness, migraine, enlarged pupils, shortness of breath;
• heart failure, convulsions, paralysis.

First aid consists in washing the stomach with a large amount of a weak saline or manganese solution and administering drugs that help eliminate toxins. After that, the patient should be provided with peace and observe his condition until the arrival of doctors.

Crow grass, crow berries, black cohosh, cross-grass. It attracts attention with its shiny black berries, which can cause severe poisoning and at the same time have healing properties. Where does the raven eye grow and how is it used in medicine?

habitats

The raven eye is found in regions such as middle lane Russia, Siberia, Caucasus, Ukraine, Belarus. This plant loves moist soil and is found in shady deciduous, coniferous or mixed forests, on the slopes of ravines, in bushes. On a stem 30 cm high, there is a scaly leaf at the bottom, split in two. Above - 4 more leaves of an ovoid-rounded shape with a pointed tip. Because of this, in science, the crow's eye is called the four-leafed. True, there are also plants that have three or even five leaves.

The rhizome of the plant is long and creeping, it can grow rapidly to the sides. and can be propagated by both seeds and shoots that grow from the rhizome. Each year, one segment is added to the shoot of the crow's eye. By counting them, you can determine how old the plant is.

The raven eye begins to bloom in May. True, it is very difficult to notice its flowers: although they are not small, they do not attract attention due to their greenish color. By their appearance it is even difficult to tell how long the flower has blossomed. It looks the same all the time, both at the beginning and at the end of flowering. The stamens and tepals simply dry out as the pistil turns into a fruit. Much more conspicuous big berries: in July and August they reach full maturity and are clearly visible against the leaves. Looking at these brilliant fruits (because of their resemblance to the eye of a crow, the plant got its name), somehow I don’t want to believe that the crow’s eye - But nevertheless, it’s true: both berries and leaves, once in the body, can cause severe poisoning. It is accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, severe abdominal pain, convulsions and impaired cardiac activity up to

What cures the raven eye?

In the Middle Ages, the crow's eye was considered a plant-amulet. People believed that it could disenchant the bewitched, as well as protect them from the plague and other similar diseases. For this, the berries of the plant were collected and sewn into clothes. But in general, plants were afraid and were not used very often.

Nowadays, the plant is used only in folk medicine and homeopathy. Both leaves and berries are used. The leaves are harvested throughout the summer, and the berries are harvested in July or August. Dry them quickly in a room that is well ventilated.

In homeopathy, the fresh juice of the plant is used to treat bronchitis, rheumatism, headache and dizziness. In folk medicine, the herb collected during flowering is used, which has anesthetic and anti-inflammatory properties.

An infusion of dried, crushed leaves can be used for insomnia, convulsive conditions, and migraines. Alcohol tincture from fresh leaves and crushed berries (in equal proportions) helps with such diseases as migraine, concussions and bruises of the brain, arachnoiditis, protracted bronchitis, pulmonary tuberculosis. If you decide to harvest this plant for medicinal purposes, make sure that raw materials and medicines are stored under lock and key and separately from food products. Due to the toxicity of the fruits and leaves of the crow's eye, it is not recommended to use without consulting a specialist. For the same reason, the plant does not have much popularity even in traditional medicine, and it is possible to treat drugs based on it only in small doses.