Effect:
wound healing, stimulates metabolism, lithotriptic
Areas of application:
stimulates metabolism, epilepsy, hysteria
Parts of the plant used:
the whole plant
Collection time:
April to August
Can be found:
In sunny meadows and on roadsides.
Ingredients:
Asperuloside, glycosides, rennet enzyme, a little essential oil, tannins
Other:
Meadow bedstraw reaches a height of 30 to 100 cm. The bare stem is also clearly square at the bottom. The 1 to 2.5 cm long and 3 to 7 mm wide, strikingly thin leaves, which taper quite abruptly towards the tip, are arranged in six to nine leafy whorls. In the axils of the upper leaves and at the end of the stem there are several panicle-like, pseudoumbelic partial inflorescences, which combine to form a loose, narrow pyramid-shaped inflorescence. The diameter of the white, four-lobed, wheel-shaped flowers is 2 to 3 mm, the corolla lobes are pointed like awns. The stems of the individual flowers are usually 3 to 4 mm long and longer than the corolla diameter. After flowering they stand out more or less sparsely. The lesser bedstraw is a hemicryptophyte with long underground runners. It blooms from May to July. (Wikipedia)
The roots were formerly used to make red dye for textiles.
The meadow bedstraw contains the enzyme rennet, which is important for cheese production.
Meadow bedstraw has many uses in the kitchen. In spring, the young leaves, which can be used raw or cooked, are delicious. The taste is reminiscent of a mixture of rocket and lettuce. They are used in pestos, salads, smoothies, soups and sauces. The white flowers have a sweet to honey-like scent. They can be used to decorate dishes and to flavor drinks, or processed into jelly, syrup and desserts. The seeds can be roasted to make an aromatic coffee substitute.