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 are unaware that the wildflowers and grasses by the roadside also have many magical effects.Perhaps you have seen many of them but do not know their names. Today, let us take a look at the medicinal herbs that grow by the roadside.「

Medicinal Herbs

」The exploration of medicinal herbs by the Chinese people has a history of thousands of years. It is said that Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs and pioneered medicine, and he is revered as the “Emperor of Medicine”.Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) mainly consists of herbal medicine (roots, stems, leaves, fruits), animal medicine (internal organs, skin, bones, organs, etc.), and mineral medicine. Since herbal medicine accounts 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 herbs. The five flavors refer to the pungent, sour, sweet, bitter, and salty tastes of herbs. The different qi and flavors of medicinal herbs lead to various therapeutic effects.However, all medicines have some toxicity. Without professional guidance, do not attempt to use them on your own to avoid problems. Only under the guidance of a professional doctor can the magical powers of herbs be fully realized! Let’s take a look at the medicinal herbs around us!Plantago (Che Qian Cao)Plantago 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 mainly used for urinary obstruction, cloudy urine, leukorrhea, hematuria, jaundice, edema, dysentery, diarrhea, epistaxis, red and swollen eyes, sore throat, cough, and skin ulcers.Honeysuckle (Jin Yin Hua)Honeysuckle blooms in March, with five petals, a faint fragrance, and a red stem. When the flower first opens, it is white, and after a day or two, it turns yellow, hence the name Honeysuckle. Because it has two flowers on one stem, resembling a pair of lovers, it is also called “Mandarin Duck Vine”.Honeysuckle has been praised since ancient times as an excellent medicine for clearing heat and detoxifying. It has a sweet and cold nature, is aromatic, and clears heat without harming the stomach. It can disperse wind-heat and clear blood toxins, effectively treating various febrile diseases such as fever, rashes, heat toxins, and sore throat.Dandelion (Pu Gong Ying)Dandelion is a perennial herb in 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.Dandelion contains various healthy nutrients such as taraxasterol, taraxinic acid, and choline, with diuretic, laxative, jaundice-reducing, and bile-promoting effects. It 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 culinary purposes.Duckweed (Ya Zhi Cao)Also known as orchid grass or bamboo leaf grass, it has rare 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 (Chui Pen Cao)Chui Pen Cao has heat-clearing, detoxifying, and damp-heat-clearing effects, and it can lower alanine aminotransferase levels. However, those with spleen and stomach deficiency and cold should use it cautiously. Chui Pen Cao treats burns, boils, mastitis, mumps, erysipelas, and ulcers. It is generally collected fresh, cleaned, crushed, and applied externally, changing the dressing twice a day for several days until healed.Oxalis (Suan Jiang)Oxalis has many names, including lantern grass, sour grass, and various local names. It has heat-clearing, dampness-relieving, phlegm-expelling, and cough-stopping effects. It is mainly used for damp-heat jaundice, urinary difficulties, chronic cough, malnutrition, lymphadenitis, and eczema.Common Burdock (Cang Er)Cang Er is a well-known plant that is toxic, with the highest toxicity in its young shoots and fruits. The seeds and cotyledons contain 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, red eyes, and skin itching.Marsh Mallow (Ma Lan Tou)Another common wild vegetable, also known as Ma Lan, Jie Qian Ju, and other names. It is a perennial herb in the Asteraceae family. The whole plant 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 dampness, and detoxifies.Shepherd’s Purse (Jie Cai)Also known as Hu Sheng Cao, Xiang Tian Qi, and other names. It is a cruciferous plant. The whole plant 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 treats dysentery, edema, gonorrhea, chyluria, hemoptysis, hematochezia, menorrhagia, and red and painful eyes.Common Teasel (Xiao Ji)Also known as Ci Er Cai, Mao Ji, and other names. It is a plant in the Asteraceae family. The whole plant 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 treats hemoptysis, epistaxis, hematuria, blood in stool, and acute infectious hepatitis.Water Celery (Shui Qincai)It belongs to the Apiaceae family. The whole plant is used medicinally. It has a cool nature and a pungent taste. It calms the liver, releases the exterior, and promotes rashes. It treats early-stage measles, hypertension, and insomnia. If you pick it yourself, be careful of a toxic variety that grows in scattered areas, while water celery grows in patches near water or wetlands.Cilantro (Tian Hu Sui)Also known as Po Tong Qian, Ji Cai, and other names. It belongs to the Apiaceae family. The whole plant is used medicinally. It has a cold nature and a bitter-pungent taste. It clears heat, promotes urination, reduces swelling, and detoxifies. It treats jaundice, dysentery, gonorrhea, urinary difficulties, red eyes, sore throat, and boils.Oxalis (Cu Jiang Cao)Also known as San Ye Suan Cao, it belongs to the Oxalidaceae family. The whole plant is used medicinally. It has a cold nature and a sour taste. It enters the Yangming and Taiyang meridians. It clears heat, promotes dampness, cools the blood, disperses stasis, reduces swelling, and detoxifies. It treats diarrhea, dysentery, jaundice, gonorrhea, red and white leukorrhea, measles, hemoptysis, epistaxis, sore throat, boils, eczema, hemorrhoids, prolapse, and burns.Motherwort (Yi Mu Cao)Motherwort can be used as a whole herb, with effective components including leonurine, and various alkaloids and benzoic acid. It has a bitter and cool taste. It promotes blood circulation, regulates menstruation, dispels stasis, stops pain, promotes urination, reduces swelling, and detoxifies. It is mainly used for irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, postpartum blood loss, abdominal pain due to stasis, kidney pain, edema, and hematuria.Senna (Jue Ming Zi)The seeds can be used as a medicinal herb, known for its eye-brightening effects. The commonly mentioned Jue Ming Zi tea is made from it. The mature fruit is harvested in autumn, dried, and the seeds are extracted and cleaned. Jue Ming Zi has a bitter, sweet, and salty taste, with a slightly cold nature, entering the Liver, Kidney, and Large Intestine meridians. It moistens the intestines, promotes bowel movements, lowers lipids, and brightens the eyes, treating constipation, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension.Chinese Dodder (She Chuang Zi)This medicinal herb warms the kidneys, strengthens yang, dries dampness, dispels wind, and kills insects. It is used for impotence, cold uterus, cold damp leukorrhea, damp bi syndrome, and externally for vulvar eczema, vaginal itching, and trichomonas vaginitis.Gynostemma (Jiao Gu Lan)Gynostemma is abundant in the wild, especially in the south, where it is valued and known as southern ginseng. It is used for physical weakness, fatigue, sperm deficiency, leukopenia, hyperlipidemia, viral hepatitis, chronic gastroenteritis, and chronic bronchitis.Purple Clover (Zi Yun Ying)The honey from purple clover is commonly cultivated in various regions of China and is an important green manure crop and livestock feed. The roots, whole plant, and seeds can be used medicinally, with effects of dispelling wind, brightening vision, strengthening the spleen, boosting qi, and detoxifying pain relief.Shennong 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 magical 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 should not be taken lightly!

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