English common name is horsetail herb from mother plant Equisetum arvense
Contains up to 0.9% flavonoids (glycosides of kaempferol, quercetin, and their malonyl esters), traces of alkaloids from aspartic acid (nicotine), and about 7% silicates.
Used to increase urine output for flushing the urinary tract as an adjuvant for mild urinary complaints and to support wound healing in minor superficial wounds.
Light green or gray-green fragments of a ridged main stem with whorled branches, featuring sharply longitudinal ribs and whorled leaves fused at the base into a sheath. The fragments are stiff, brittle, and produce a creaking sound when crushed (due to their silicate content). The main stem is hollow, up to 4.5 mm in diameter, and forms nodes at intervals of 1.5–4.5 cm with 4 to 14 distinct longitudinal ribs. The central hollow occupies up to 50% of the stem diameter. The stem is extensively whorled with upright branches, usually simple, with 3–5 very sharp longitudinal ribs arising from the node. The branches are not hollow. The leaves are small and linear, fused at the base in a whorl (the number of teeth corresponds to the number of ribs on the stem). Each individual tooth (often brownish) is lanceolate-triangular. The first segment of the branch is always longer than the stem sheath.
The drug is listed in the pharmacopoeia.
In pulverized drug under the microscope we can see:
Paracytic stomata have radially ribbed subsidiary cells (siliceous particles)
Epidermal cells in two to four rows with sinuous walls
