Effect:
haemostatic, wound healing, anti-inflammatory, astringent, diaphoretic, digestive
Areas of application:
Digestive problems, inflammation of the mouth and throat, sunburn, impure skin, eczema, bleeding wounds, hemorrhoids, diarrhea, gout, rheumatism
Plant parts used:
Root, leaves, flowers
Collection time:
all year round
To find:
Just like the large meadow button, the small one can be found in moist meadows.
Ingredients:
Tannins, essential oils, flavonoids, vitamin C, hydroxycinnamic acids, saponins
Miscellaneous:
☕ Tea: Boil 2 to 3 teaspoons of the fresh crushed leaves in 1/4 liter of water, then strain. Drink 2 cups daily.
The Meadow button, little one is a perennial plant and can grow to between 20 and 100 cm in height. It smells like cucumber. The upright, branched stem is round to angular. The basal leaves are arranged in a dense rosette. The pinnate leaves have three to twelve pairs of leaflets. The sessile or stalked leaflets are egg-shaped to elliptical. The leaf edge is coarsely toothed and has three to nine teeth on each side. The underside of the leaf is sometimes lighter or greyer than the upper side. The flowers are in dense, almost spherical, terminal, capitate-shaped inflorescences with a diameter of 1 to 3 centimeters. The individual flowers have a green to reddish calyx with four sepals and no crown. The fruits are in an infructescence that is surrounded by the remaining recurved sepals. The seeds are enclosed in the hardened calyx.
In Great Britain, the Meadow button, little one is used as a substitute for basil, for example in the classic pâté, which is often mixed with green nuts, or in burnet vinegar. The small burnet smells and tastes like cucumber and can be eaten before it flowers, in salads or as a vegetable. As a spice, it goes well with pickled vegetables, in quark and soft cheese dishes, or you can make herb butter from it. In addition to the flowers, the shoot tips and the younger leaves can also be used. It is also used in cold drinks or white wine punch, and it goes well with poached fish and poultry dishes and is suitable for seasoning marinades and sauces. The leaves can also be used to flavor herb vinegar or as an addition when pickling gherkins. Under the name burnet, it is also one of the seven herbs in Frankfurt green sauce.
Younger leaves are light, older leaves are more astringent.
See also Meadow button, big one