Cat’s-foot is a herbaceous plant. This unusual name is associated with the similarity of velvety flowers with a real cat’s paws – they feel just as soft to the touch. People also have other names for it: “gorlyanka”, “kamchuk”, “zolotushnik” and others.

There is a legend that in ancient times the cat’s-foot helped blind people find treasures. Since then, another name for it has survived to this day – ‘nechuyevik’. It is associated with the nechuy-veter, a magical herb from Slavic mythology, which usually grew in winter along river banks.

The cat’s foot is common in Europe, North America, the Carpathians and even the Arctic. In Russia, it can be seen in northern Kazakhstan, Siberia, the Caucasus, the Urals, and the Kuril Islands of the Far East. The plant loves light, therefore prefers sandy soils. It is found in pine forests, among heather, as well as on dry meadows and glades.

The perennial usually becomes 30 centimetres in height. It begins to bloom from mid-May to the end of July, and the fruits ripen in June-August. The plant’s small flowers are in capitula forming the flower-heads. The capitula with female flowers are of oblong shape and pink shades; male capitula are like balls of white colour. Because of its white or pale pink flowers the cat’s-foot is sometimes called the white immortelle. Different tenants of the wood: hares, roes, and deer eagerly feed on this herb.

The perennial is used as an ornamental plant. And for therapeutic purposes, they usually store up the above-ground parts of the cat’s-foot, which are collected during flowering. They contain calcium chloride and other substances that help to stop bleeding. However, to date, the chemical composition of the plant is not fully understood.