Description
John's Wort is a herbaceous perennial plant, which grows in the spontaneous flora in dry places, in fallow lands, on greenfields, on lands with shrubs, on the shores of waters and roads and in systematic crops.
John's Wort is part of the Hypericaceae family, it may reach even 1 m in height, its usual size being 20-30 cm. The stem is wooden or becomes wooden pretty quickly during the vegetation process. Leaves are small and have different shapes, most of the times being oval.
The inflorescence period is from June till September, the flowers, being numerous, are yellow with black dots.
The designation of John's Wort comes from the Latin “sanatoria” which means “healing”.
Use
For medicinal therapies, the entire plant is harvested, which is used to make tea. Other medicinal preparations: tea for bronchitis and John's Wort oils. These John's Wort oils are considered very efficient in medicinal therapies.
John's Wort is used topically for skin care, regenerating and toning the skin. In dermatology and cosmetics, the aerial parts or only flowers of John's Wort are used. It is used under the form of tea, tincture, decoction, oil.
Through the antiseptic, astringent, healing, anti-inflammatory action, John's Wort is used is cosmetics for oily skins, dry skins, wounds, ulcers, burns, lesions, varicose veins, phlebitis.