''Euphrasia stricta'', the drug eyebright, is an

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), a ...

forb A forb or phorb is a herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in botany and in vegetation ecology especially in relation to grasslands and understory. Typically, these are eudicots without woo ...

in the genus ''

Euphrasia ''Euphrasia'', or eyebright, is a genus of about 215 species of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the family (biology), family Orobanchaceae (formerly included in the Scrophulariaceae), with a cosmopolitan distribution. They are P ...

''. It has been introduced in northeastern North America, where it is found in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

(except Connecticut), New York, Pennsylvania, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Quebec, the upper peninsula of Michigan, northern Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois. It is also found in Central Europe and Pyrenees The preferred growing location is on moist,

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

sands, such as those on some moors and dunes. The plant is a

hemiparasite A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called th ...

and can steal water and salts from grasses.

Uses

''Euphrasia stricta'' is used in herbal medicine to treat inflammatory eye conditions, most notably allergic conjunctivitis. The German Commission E did not consider there to be sufficient evidence to prove eyebright is useful for any condition. Human clinical trials are lacking to support traditional claims, though absence of evidence is not proof of inefficacy.

References

stricta {{Orobanchaceae-stub

Uses

See also

References