Quack /Couch grass has a long, creeping rhizome, slender leaves, and erect spikes bearing green flowers aligned in two rows.
PARTS USED
Rhizome, seeds, root.
Medicinal Action and Uses-
A gentle, effective diuretic and demulcent, couch grass is most commonly used for urinary tract infections such as cystitis and urethritis. It both protects the urinary tubules against infection and irritants, and increases the volume of urine, thereby diluting it. Couch grass can be taken, usually with other herbs, to help treat kidney stones, reducing the irritation and laceration they cause. Couch grass is also thought to dissolve kidney stones (insofar as possible), and in any case will help to prevent their further enlargement. Both an enlarged prostate and prostatitis will benefit from a couch grass decoction taken over the course of several months. Couch grass has been used in the past for the treatment of gout and rheumatism. In German herbal medicine, heated couch grass seeds are used in a hot and moist pack that is applied to the abdomen to soothe peptic ulcers. Juice from the roots of couch grass has been used to treat jaundice and other liver complaints.