Introduction
Velvety and elegant, dandelion flowers decorate gardens and parks with their colorful and iridescent clothes, so as not to go unnoticed. The name of the lion's mouth refers to the particular and original structure of the floral, bilabated, tubular and tortuous corolla, presenting a sort of lips. This flower, in addition to seducing insects, attracts the attention of many children who, fascinated by its shape, throttle it sideways - albeit always gently - with the fingers so as to open the petals; in doing so, the "lion" seems to open its mouth wide.
Botanical analysis
The snapdragon is an exponent of the Scrofulariacee, the same family to which the Digitalis purpurea belongs: it is a perennial herbaceous plant cultivated as an annual, native of the lands bordering the Mediterranean.
In the Bel Paese, the lion's mouths grow in rather dry and stony soils, thus painting the vegetation of splendid colors.
The lion's mouth, a suffruticosa and hairy plant, has an erect stem with a quadrangular section, fleshy (towards the apex) and lignified at the base, which generally does not grow beyond 50 centimeters in height. The stem is covered with rather small lanceolate leaves (max. 3 cm wide and 8 in length): it is good to distinguish the leaves of the caule from the basal ones; the caulines do not have petioles, they are whole and pubescent, while the basal ones are spatulate, opposite and also sessile.
The fruits are capsules inside which crested and oval seeds are located.
We now come to describe the most interesting part of the plant: the flower. The lion's mouths are hermaphrodites (both male and female), divided into four sections and have a bilateral symmetry (zygomorphs); the colors are multiple, different according to the variety: the spontaneous ones are generally white or pink, the cultivated ones can be of any color. The flowers do not exceed 6 centimeters in length.
The snapdragons love warm temperatures, in summer it is recommended to expose them to sunlight, which guarantees a rich bloom.
Property
Due to its beauty and chromatic multivariation, the lion's mouth is mainly cultivated for ornamental purposes; however, the plant can also be exploited for therapeutic purposes, due to its richness in glucosylated iridoids, comparable to aucubina (plantain). The result is a possible antihistamine and antiallergic effect, made not by single molecules but by the entire phytocomplex.
Generally, the drug consists of leaves and flowers, and is used mostly in the form of infusions and decoctions.
In addition to iridoids, the plant contains mucilages and glycosides in general, thus ensuring a soothing, emollient, diaphoretic, diuretic and anti-inflammatory action: the medicinal virtues associated with the snapdragon find practical confirmation in the topical treatment of erythema and burns, while taken under form of infusion, it is useful for alleviating inflammations in general, and ulcers of the oral cavity in particular.
In the past, the snapdragon was useful in cosmetics.
With the exception of individual hypersensitivity, at therapeutic doses, no contraindication is found.
Summary
Lion's mouth: TO FIX THE CONCEPTS
| Lion's mouth: name | The name of the lion's mouth refers to the particular structure of the floral, bilabated, tubular and tortuous corolla, presenting a sort of lips In botany, snapdragon → Antirrhinum majus: anti = similar + rhin = muzzle → similar nose (to the lion) Petals → compared to lips that, delicately choked, seem to open up like a lion's mouth |
| Lion's mouth: botanical description |
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| Lion's mouth: chemical molecules |
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| Lion's mouth: therapeutic virtues |
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| Lion's mouth: medicinal uses | Topical treatment of erythema and burns Relieves ulcers of the oral cavity (decoction-infusion) Relieves inflammation in general (decoction-infusion) |
| Lion's mouth: drug | Leaves and flowers of snapdragon |
