A creeping, rootless, leafless annual parasitic plant. Polyphagous, parasitizing other plants and trees. Parasitic not only on flowering plants, but also on ferns and brambles. Its stems tend to be 1-3 m long and 1 mm in diameter, branched, green, yellow or reddish. The plant wraps itself around its host plant and attaches to it with suckers, with the help of which it receives nutrients.

The flowers are small (3-4 mm long), sessile, actinomorphic, collected in head-shaped inflorescences. Flowers white, pink or pale pink. Fruit - seed box. Blooms in June-August. Reproduces mainly with the help of seeds, about 30 thousand new seeds are formed on one plant. The seed germinates on the ground, forming a temporary root and leafless shoot. Then the plant begins to turn the shoot in a circle until it hits the future host plant, as soon as the greater Dodder is absorbed by the host plant, its connection with the ground is broken.

The whole plant has medicinal value. The plant is harvested at the beginning of the flowering period (June-July), the seeds after the vegetation period - usually in autumn. The plants are dried on sieves or in forced dryers. The drug is stored for up to one year, in paper bags.

Glycosides, alkaloids kustanin and convolvulin, tannins, phytosterol, flavonoids (quercetin, kaempferol, etc.), flavones, flavophenes, leucoanthocins, pentosan, quercetin, carbohydrates, sugars, coumarins (bergenine, methyl lotoside, umbelliferone) are obtained from the seeds of the plant and the plant itself. phenolcarbonic acids and their derivatives (chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid for cinnamic acids, cuscutic acid), saponins, polysaccharides (pectin) and other steroids.

Medicinal significance

The plant has laxative, diuretic, analgesic properties. The seeds of the plant are used as a genital tonic and stimulant. Greater Dodder has anti-bleeding properties.

The plant is widely used in Eastern medicine against jaundice. In India, Tibet and China, this plant is used as a potency-enhancing, diuretic, astringent, anti-inflammatory and anti-infective agent.

In Tibet, this plant is also used as an expectorant and hemostatic agent, in many mixtures, especially for the treatment of various lung diseases.

Greater Dodder is used in case of prolapse of the uterus, as well as bleeding, as well as in case of injuries. Plant infusion is recommended in case of stomach cancer. Greater Dodder is used in case of weak and painful menstruation, as well as in the treatment of diseases of the stomach, liver and colds.

The plant can also be added to baths to treat various skin rashes.

Not recommended for use

Greater Dodder is a poisonous plant, so its oral use should be justified. In case of overdose, nausea, vomiting, headache and dizziness are possible. It is understood that it cannot be used during pregnancy and lactation, and this plant is not used in the treatment of children.