Originally mountains and rivers, all plants have their uses. Every grass and tree in nature is a gift to humanity. We may pay more attention to flowers and plants, but we often overlook the many miraculous uses of the wildflowers and grasses by the roadside.Perhaps you have seen them many times but do not know their names. Today, let’s take a look at those medicinal herbs that grow by the roadside.
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Medicinal Herbs
」The exploration of medicinal herbs by the Chinese people has a history of thousands of years. Legend has it that Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs and pioneered medicine, earning him the title of “Herbal Emperor”.Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) mainly consists of herbal medicines (roots, stems, leaves, fruits), animal medicines (internal organs, skins, bones, organs, etc.), and mineral medicines. Since herbal medicines account for the majority of TCM, it is also referred to as traditional herbal medicine. Currently, there are about 5,000 types of medicinal herbs used across various regions, and the number of formulas created by combining different medicinal materials is countless.The application theory of TCM is quite unique. TCM has four qi (properties) and five flavors. The four qi, also known as four natures, refer to the cold, hot, warm, and cool properties of the herbs. The five flavors refer to the pungent, sour, sweet, bitter, and salty tastes of the medicines. The different qi and flavors of medicinal herbs lead to various therapeutic effects.However, all medicines have some toxicity. Without professional guidance, everyone should avoid trying them on their own to prevent issues. Only under the guidance of a professional doctor can the miraculous powers of herbs be fully realized! Let’s take a look at the medicinal herbs around us!Che Qian Cao (Plantago asiatica)Che Qian Cao is highly adaptable and can be found everywhere from the mountains and fields to the roadsides and riverbanks in China. It has a sweet taste and a cold nature. It has diuretic, heat-clearing, vision-improving, and phlegm-expelling effects.It is primarily used for urinary obstruction, cloudy urine, leukorrhea, hematuria, jaundice, edema, dysentery, diarrhea, nosebleeds, red and swollen eyes, sore throat, cough, and skin ulcers.
Jin Yin Hua (Lonicera japonica)Jin Yin Hua blooms in March, with five petals and a slight fragrance. The flower starts white and turns yellow after a day or two, hence the name Jin Yin Hua (gold and silver flower). It is also known as the “Mandarin Duck Vine” because of its paired flowers that resemble a pair of mandarin ducks dancing together.Since ancient times, Jin Yin Hua has been praised as an excellent medicine for clearing heat and detoxifying. It has a sweet and cold nature and is aromatic, clearing heat without harming the stomach and dispelling evil. Jin Yin Hua can disperse wind-heat and effectively clear blood toxins, making it useful for various febrile diseases such as fever, rashes, heat toxins, sore throat, etc.
Pu Gong Ying (Taraxacum mongolicum)Pu Gong Ying is a perennial herb of the Asteraceae family. Its seeds have a white crown that forms a fluffy ball, and after blooming, they are carried by the wind to new places to nurture new life.The plant contains various healthy nutrients such as taraxasterol, dandelion glycosides, and choline, which have diuretic, laxative, jaundice-reducing, and gallbladder-promoting effects. Pu Gong Ying also contains proteins, fats, carbohydrates, trace elements, and vitamins, making it highly nutritious. It can be eaten raw, stir-fried, or made into soup, serving both medicinal and dietary purposes.
Ya Zhi Cao (Commelina communis)Also known as Lan Hua Cao or Zhu Ye Cao, it has uncommon blue flowers. It is harvested in summer and autumn and dried.It is used for colds and fevers, thirst due to heat, sore throat, edema with reduced urination, painful urination, and boils.
Chui Pen Cao (Hedyotis diffusa)Chui Pen Cao has effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, clearing damp-heat, and reducing ALT levels. However, those with spleen and stomach deficiency and cold should use it cautiously. Chui Pen Cao treats burns, boils, mastitis, mumps, erysipelas, and scars. It is generally collected fresh, cleaned, crushed, and applied externally, changing the dressing twice a day for several days until healed.
Suan Jiang (Oxalis corniculata)Suan Jiang has many names, including Lantern Grass, Vinegar Mother Grass, and Lantern Child, with different names in various regions.It has effects of clearing heat and dampness, expelling phlegm and stopping cough, and softening hardness and dissipating masses. It is primarily used for damp-heat jaundice, urinary difficulties, chronic cough and asthma, malnutrition, scrofula, tinea, and eczema.
Cang Er (Xanthium sibiricum)Cang Er is a well-known plant that is toxic, with the entire plant being poisonous. The young shoots and fruits are the most toxic, containing toxic proteins and glycosides that can damage the heart, liver, and kidneys and cause bleeding.It disperses wind and heat, detoxifies, and kills insects. It is used for headaches, dizziness, dampness and pain, red eyes, eye diseases, boils, heat toxins, and skin itching.
Ma Lan Tou (Houttuynia cordata)Another common wild vegetable, also known as Ma Lan, Jie Qian Ju, Ji Er Chang, and Hong Geng Cai. It is a herbaceous plant of the Houttuynia family. The whole herb is used medicinally. It has a cool nature and a pungent taste. It enters the Taiyin Lung and Jueyin Liver meridians. It cools the blood, clears heat, promotes urination, and detoxifies.
Jie Cai (Capsella bursa-pastoris)Also known as Hu Sheng Cao, Xiang Tian Qi, and Lan Gu Cai. It is a herbaceous plant of the Brassicaceae family. The whole herb is used medicinally. It has a neutral nature and a sweet taste. It enters the Shaoyin, Taiyin, and Jueyin meridians. It harmonizes the spleen, promotes urination, stops bleeding, and improves vision. It is used for dysentery, edema, gonorrhea, chyluria, hemoptysis, hematochezia, menorrhagia, and red and painful eyes.
Xiao Ji (Cirsium setosum)Also known as Ci Er Cai, Mao Ji, Ci Luo Bo, Dao Cai, and Ye Hong Hua. It is a herbaceous plant of the Asteraceae family. The whole herb or root is used medicinally. It has a cool nature and a sweet taste. It enters the Liver and Spleen meridians. It cools the blood, dispels stasis, and stops bleeding. It is used for hemoptysis, epistaxis, hematuria, blood-tinged urine, hematochezia, and acute infectious hepatitis.
Shui Qincai (Apium graveolens)It belongs to the Apiaceae family. The whole herb is used medicinally. It has a cool nature and a pungent taste. It calms the liver, releases the exterior, and promotes rashes. It is used for the initial stage of measles, hypertension, and insomnia. If you pick it yourself, be careful of a toxic plant that looks similar, which grows in scattered areas, while Shui Qincai grows in patches near water or in wetlands.
Tian Hu Su (Coriandrum sativum)Also known as Po Tong Qian, Ji Cai, and Pen Shang Yan Qian. It is a herbaceous plant of the Apiaceae family. The whole herb is used medicinally. It has a cold nature and a bitter-pungent taste. It clears heat, promotes urination, reduces swelling, and detoxifies. It is used for jaundice, dysentery, urinary difficulties, eye diseases, sore throat, and boils.
Cu Jiang Cao (Oxalis corniculata)Also known as San Ye Suan Cao, it is a herbaceous plant of the Oxalidaceae family. The whole herb is used medicinally. It has a cold nature and a sour taste. It enters the Yangming and Taiyang meridians. It clears heat and dampness, cools the blood, disperses stasis, reduces swelling, and detoxifies. It is used for diarrhea, dysentery, jaundice, gonorrhea, red and white leukorrhea, measles, hemoptysis, epistaxis, sore throat, boils, eczema, hemorrhoids, prolapse, and burns.
Po Po Zhi Jia Cai (Hedyotis diffusa)Po Po Zhi Jia Cai, also known as Guazi Cao and Gao Jiao Shu, is a herbaceous plant of the Caryophyllaceae family. The whole herb is used medicinally. It has a sweet taste and clears heat from the urinary tract.
Qi Gu Cao (Euphorbia hirta)Also known as Zhen Zhu Cao and Di Song. It is a herbaceous plant of the Euphorbiaceae family. The whole herb is used medicinally. It has a cool nature and a bitter-pungent taste. It treats skin diseases, baldness, boils, scrofula, dental caries, and childhood milk accumulation.
Tong Quan Cao (Lysimachia christinae)Traditional Chinese medicine name: Green Orchid Flower, also known as Hu Zai Cao, Shi Lin Cao, and Nuo Pao Yao. It belongs to the Scrophulariaceae family. It has a cool nature, a slightly sweet taste, and is non-toxic. The whole herb is used medicinally. It has anti-inflammatory and detoxifying effects. It is used for boils, burns, and abscesses.
Bo Si Po Po Na (Euphorbia hirta)Traditional Chinese medicine name: Shen Zi Cao, also known as Lantern Grass and Persian Watercress. It belongs to the Scrophulariaceae family. It has a neutral nature and a bitter-salty taste. The whole herb is used medicinally. It detoxifies and treats kidney deficiency and rheumatism.
Ze Qi (Euphorbia hirta)It has diuretic and anti-edema effects, resolves phlegm and dissipates masses, and kills insects and relieves itching. It is used for ascites, edema, pulmonary tuberculosis, cervical lymph node tuberculosis, excessive phlegm and cough, and tinea.
Gou Wei Ba Cao (Setaria viridis)Also known as Green Dog Tail Grass, Gu Yao Zi, and A Luo Han Cao. It is used to clear heat, eliminate dampness, and reduce swelling. It treats boils, sores, and red eyes.
Xuan Fu Hua (Inula japonica)The roots and leaves treat cuts and abscesses, and decoction can relieve cough and asthma; the flowers are a stomachic and phlegm-relieving medicine, also treating chest tightness, abdominal distension, nausea, and cough. The leaves and wild chrysanthemum have significant differences, and their aromas are also different.
Huang Hua Cai (Hemerocallis fulva)Huang Hua Cai is the flower bud of a perennial herb, with a fresh taste and tender texture, rich in nutrients, containing abundant pollen, sugars, proteins, vitamin C, calcium, fats, carotene, and amino acids essential for the human body. Its carotene content is even several times higher than that of tomatoes. Huang Hua Cai has a sweet and cool nature, with effects of stopping bleeding, reducing inflammation, clearing heat, promoting urination, aiding digestion, improving vision, and calming the mind. It is effective for hemoptysis, blood in stool, urinary obstruction, insomnia, and insufficient milk production, and can be used as a tonic after illness or childbirth.
Xiao Fei Peng (Erigeron breviscapus)Xiao Fei Peng, also known as Xiao Peng Cao, Canadian Peng, and Qizhou Yi Zhi Hao, is the whole herb or fresh leaves of a perennial or annual herb. It has effects of clearing heat and dampness, dispersing stasis, and reducing swelling. It is distributed in most regions of China. Xiao Fei Peng is actually considered an invasive species, with a particularly strong reproductive ability, posing a significant threat to agriculture.
Jin Xian Cao (Polygonum aviculare)It is a plant of the Polygonaceae family, with the whole herb being used medicinally. It can be harvested throughout its growth period, used fresh or dried for later use.
Ya She Cao (Euphorbia hirta)Ya She Cao has a bitter taste and a cool nature; it has detoxifying effects and is primarily used for dysentery, enteritis, acute tonsillitis, erysipelas, and abscesses. It can also be used for acute bronchitis and whooping cough.
Lan Hua Shen (Corydalis yanhusuo)Ya She Cao has detoxifying effects and is primarily used for dysentery, enteritis, acute tonsillitis, erysipelas, and abscesses. It can also be used for acute bronchitis and whooping cough.
Chai Hu (Bupleurum chinense)Chai Hu has a slightly cold nature, a bitter and pungent taste, and enters the Liver, Lung, and Spleen meridians. It functions to release the exterior and drain heat, soothe the liver, and uplift Yang Qi. It is used for colds and fevers, alternating chills and fever, malaria, liver Qi stagnation, chest and rib distension, prolapse of the rectum, uterine prolapse, and menstrual irregularities.
Mai Dong (Ophiopogon japonicus)Mai Dong has a sweet and slightly bitter taste, and a slightly cold nature. It enters the Heart, Lung, and Stomach meridians. It nourishes Yin, generates fluids, moistens the lungs, and clears the heart. It is used for dry cough due to lung dryness, Yin deficiency, sore throat, thirst due to internal heat, irritability and insomnia, and constipation due to intestinal dryness.
She Mei (Rubus idaeus)The whole herb is used medicinally, with effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, activating blood circulation, dispersing stasis, and stopping bleeding. It is also used for snake bites and treating abscesses. There are often discussions among flower enthusiasts about whether She Mei can be eaten; in fact, it has slight toxicity, but consuming a small amount is generally safe, although the taste is not very pleasant.
Yu Zhu (Polygonatum odoratum)It nourishes Yin, moistens dryness, relieves irritability, and quenches thirst. It is used for febrile diseases with Yin injury, cough with irritability and thirst, deficiency heat, frequent urination, and hunger.
Sang Bai Pi (Morus alba)Sang Bai Pi is the bark of the mulberry tree root, with a sweet and cold nature, entering the Lung meridian. Its functions include draining the lungs and relieving cough, promoting urination, and reducing swelling. It is used for cough due to lung heat, facial swelling, and urinary difficulties.
Man Tuo Luo (Atropa belladonna)It is toxic and serves as a sedative, relaxing muscles. It was a major component of ancient anesthetics and modern Yunnan Baiyao. The flowers, seeds, leaves, and roots have different uses in folk medicine, treating various diseases. Chewing ten seeds can treat insomnia.
Gui Zhen Cao (Bidens pilosa)When tender, it can be eaten as a vegetable and is quite palatable. It is said to be very effective in lowering transaminases. It can disperse liver heat.
Ku Cai (Sonchus oleraceus)It is the tender leaves of the Sonchus plant. It has both medicinal and dietary uses as a perennial herb. Its medicinal name is Bai Jiang Cao, with other names including Nu Lang Hua and Lu Chang Ma Cao.It has effects of clearing heat, cooling blood, detoxifying, improving vision, harmonizing the stomach, and stopping cough. It is used for dysentery, jaundice, hematuria, hemorrhoids, abscesses, snake bites, cough, bronchitis, and malnutrition.
Kui Cai (Hibiscus sabdariffa)There are both wild and cultivated varieties. It is listed as a superior product in the “Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica” and is beneficial to health. Most people in many regions are unaware of its edibility. The wild variety shown in the picture can benefit the five organs, and the roots can be used to promote kidney function, while the leaves can be used with brown sugar for effective external treatment of sores and swellings.
Xian Ma (Urtica dioica)Its stinging hairs cause a prickling sensation upon contact, and many people feel a sting when touched. It is commonly used in soups or fried with eggs, and is quite tasty. It can treat children’s cough and toothache due to wind-heat.
Shen Nong tasted hundreds of herbs to discover the essence of traditional Chinese medicine. It is hard to imagine how many trials our ancestors went through to discover so many ordinary yet miraculous medicinal herbs.However, it is important to remind everyone to use these herbs under the guidance of a physician, as all medicines have some toxicity, and caution is necessary!
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