MEDICINAL PLANTS

This plant can reach 40 cm. High and rarely about the excess. It consists of several stems that grow fairly upright. The leaves are not very numerous, are grouped in pairs, are quite narrow, so throw, and with a whitish color due to the hair that covers them, like the rest of the plant. Can be found almost everywhere in the Iberian peninsula from Catalonia, Castile, Aragon, Levante, and so on. The only place where it is scarce in the northwest. One grows in limestone soils, usually on slopes and flat terrain.

FLOWERING

Flowers during the months of May and June. Its flowers are very showy for its large size and quite striking yellow. They arise in the axils of two sheets having different shape than the rest, as they are oval and their size is much smaller than the flowers. The flower consists of a tubular calyx, a corolla that usually measures about 3 cm and four stamens that protrude beyond the corolla. It collects the entire plant and especially its leaves, which dried in the sun for later stored in a place where there is moisture. Can be gathered throughout the year, although the timing is best at the end of the spring, as it coincided with the flowering season are most active components of the plant.

APPLICATIONS

It is a plant that has been widely used in folk medicine or medical or optional. Its applications can highlight its use as an astringent and also sometimes been used as haemorrhoids when they had no other effective remedy. This plant is named for its best-known (which has nothing to do with health), as has long been used as a wick for candles.

ADMINISTRATION

cooking. Mix 20 gr. Plant with 1 liter of water begins to warm up for half an hour, slip the remains of the plant and allowed to cool. It is recommended to take 1 cup at night.
Mecha. A dry leaf is soaked in oil and used as a wick to light the candles. That there is no longer done because the use of candles is becoming smaller.

SUMMARY

FAMILY: Labiatae
HABITAT: Limestone soils
FLOWERING: May and June
PART USED: Leaves and whole plant
CASTILIAN: Candileja
CATALAN: Candelera, blenera

USES

Astringency, Moderate Antihemorroidal, Healing Light.