It occurs on the Volyn-Podolsk Upland in the interfluve of the Dniester – Southern Bug and very rarely on the Dnieper Upland in the interfluve of the Southern Bug – Dnieper in hornbeam, less often oak-hornbeam forests, thickets of shrubs, on forest edges. In the forests of Vinnitsa and the northern part of the Odessa regions, less often in the Khmelnitsky region, sedge thickets occupy tens and hundreds of hectares. For industrial harvesting, only sedge thickets are suitable for cutting areas that have begun to overgrow, where bushes reach 10-20 cm in diameter and produce up to 0.5-1 kg of wet weight.
Stocks of raw materials are large (several tens of tons of grass can be harvested annually), but with the replacement of natural forests with artificial plantations, they are decreasing. Industrial harvesting is possible in the southern part of Vinnitsa and the northern part of the Odessa regions, partly in the Khmelnitsky and western parts of the Kirovograd region.
Parva sedge is a perennial herbaceous plant with a branched, hard, brown rhizome on the outside, covered with hard scales. Stems flattened-trihedral, 20-35 cm high, hard, leafy below, with brown sheaths, ending in two or three thick spikelets. The upper spikelet is male, brown, the lower ones are female, axillary, greenish-brown. Leaves up to 50-60 cm long, linear, green with a bluish tint and a groove, with two veins in the middle and edges wrapped down. The fruits are sacs (4.5-5 mm long), with a rusty two-toothed spout within 1 mm in length. Blooms in April – early May. The fruits ripen in July.
In the forests there are other types of sedge, the harvesting of which is not allowed. Most often, along with the Parva sedge, the hairy sedge grows, which differs in a number of features.
Grass is harvested later, flowering (second half of May-June), cut with sickles or knives at a height of 5-7 cm without last year’s overwintered leaves.
Dry it in the open air, laying out a thin layer (5-7 cm) on the currents and often turning over. In rainy weather, it can be dried under awnings with good ventilation or in attics with an iron roof. The yield of dry raw materials is 30-40%.
According to MRTU 3452-66, the raw material consists of whole or broken leaves and stems up to 50 cm long with spikelets. The leaves are light yellow, the stems are slightly lighter, the spikelets are dark brown. Odor and taste are absent. Not more than (percent) is allowed in raw materials: parts of sedge with a changed color – 12, crushed parts – 1.5, sedge rhizomes – 3, organic impurities – 4, mineral impurities – 1. Alkaloids should be at least 0.5%.
Dry grass is packed in bales weighing 20-30 kg or in bags of 8-10 kg. Store in dry, well-ventilated areas on pallets or racks. Storage period 1 year.
The herb contains alkaloids (brevicollin, etc.). It is used for the manufacture of the product brevicollin, used as a parenteral agent.