Gui Zhen Cao (Ghost Needle Grass)

When tender, it can be eaten as a vegetable and is quite palatable. It is said to be very effective in reducing transaminases and can disperse liver heat.

3Ku Cai (Bitter Herb)

In Yunnan, people refer to green vegetables as bitter herbs, but the one in the picture is the true bitter herb. It is listed as a superior herb in ancient materia medica, beneficial for the stomach and gallbladder, and has anti-tumor properties, making it very suitable for modern people.

4Kui Cai (Sunflower Greens)

There are wild and cultivated varieties. Listed as a superior herb in the “Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica”, it is a vegetable beneficial to health, though most regions are unaware of its edibility. The wild variety shown above can benefit the five organs, with the roots used to clear kidney pathways and the leaves boiled with brown sugar for effective external treatment of sores and swellings.

5Xian Ma (Nettle)

Some texts mention it as toxic, while others describe it as mildly toxic or even highly toxic. In fact, it has been used medicinally in the past, and now it is often consumed as a vegetable. Its stinging hairs can cause a prickling sensation upon contact. It is delicious when cooked in soup or fried with eggs. It can treat children’s wind cough and toothache due to wind heat. One patient reported that its roots are remarkably effective for treating urticaria.

6Long Kui (Black Nightshade)

It clears heat and treats tumors, and is also a commonly used wild vegetable. It has liver-protecting, stomach-strengthening, and vision-improving properties.

7Huang Pao (Yellow Robe)

The fruit is delicious, appetizing, and softens the liver, making it good for children.

8He Shou Wu (Fo-Ti)

Used to tonify and nourish qi and blood, it has a mild flavor and can be consumed regularly. When raw, it detoxifies and promotes bowel movements without harming yin. The sprouts have calming and blood-nourishing effects.

9Wu Pao (Black Robe)

The fruit has similar effects as Huang Pao, while the leaves and tender tips boiled with brown sugar are effective for treating acute diarrhea of the liver without side effects.

10Ye Bo He (Wild Mint)

Its taste and effects are similar to cultivated varieties. It disperses wind heat, eliminates foul qi, and detoxifies from fish and shrimp.

11Zong Li (Palm)

The palm hair, flowers, and roots are used medicinally. It has astringent properties and can stop bleeding, but it is particularly effective for gynecological discharge.

12Hui Hui Cai (Gray Herb)

Generally not used in medicine, it was used in ancient recipes to make winter ash and is now rarely used. It can clear lung and visceral congestion.

13Xia Ku Cao (Self-heal)

It grows according to the seasons and can harmonize blood, drawing yang into yin to treat insomnia. It has a salty taste and can soften hardness and disperse accumulations. Non-toxic, the tender sprouts should be edible, but in the central Yunnan region, there are many vegetables, and no one eats it.

14Che Qian Cao (Plantago)

Used for its seeds in pharmacies, the grass and seeds have the same effects. It clears bladder heat, benefits kidney qi, and prevents stone accumulation. Additionally, it can draw lung heat out through urination and treat cough. There are large-leaf and small-leaf varieties, with the small-leaf being better.

15Tie Hao (Iron Wormwood)

There are many types of wormwood, some for medicinal use, some for food, and some for both. Pharmacies often use Qing Hao (Artemisia annua) and Huang Hao (Artemisia capillaris). Tie Hao can clear empty heat and is similar to Qing Hao, with a less bitter taste. During difficult times, common people also consume it to stave off hunger, and it has health benefits, but unfortunately, no one studies or develops it.

16Jin Yin Hua (Honeysuckle)

All parts of Jin Yin Hua can be used medicinally and it is one of the precious Chinese medicinal materials designated by the State Council. Jin Yin Hua has functions of clearing heat and detoxifying, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, and protecting the liver and benefiting the gallbladder. It is clinically used to treat respiratory infections, headaches, and sore throats. 1. Antibacterial, Jin Yin Hua inhibits Staphylococcus, Shigella, and Streptococcus pneumoniae. 2. Jin Yin Hua can neutralize cholesterol, thereby reducing intestinal absorption of cholesterol. 3. It is effective for influenza, pneumonia, coronary heart disease, and hyperlipidemia, and has effects of enhancing human immunity and delaying aging.

17Pu Gong Ying (Dandelion)

Taste and Function: Sweet, slightly bitter, cold. Clears heat and detoxifies, reduces swelling and disperses lumps. Main Indications: Upper respiratory infections, conjunctivitis, epidemic mumps, mastitis, gastritis, dysentery, hepatitis, cholecystitis, acute appendicitis, urinary tract infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, and boils. Application References: 1. For epidemic mumps and mastitis: fresh dandelion crushed and applied to the affected area. 2. For chronic osteomyelitis: 15 grams of dandelion, 1 tablespoon of fermented rice, mixed with water and taken after meals. 3. For boils: dandelion, wild chrysanthemum, honeysuckle, and ground herb each 30 grams, decocted and taken.

18Ya Zhi Cao (Duckweed)

Main Indications:

1. Urinary obstruction. Use 1 liang of duckweed and 1 liang of plantago, crush to extract juice, add a little honey, and take on an empty stomach. 2. Dysentery. Boil duckweed and take daily. 3. Throat obstruction. Use duckweed juice to gargle. 4. Hemorrhoids and swelling. Use duckweed and Bichan flower together, crush and apply to the affected area. 【Alias】Bamboo joint vegetable, duckweed, earring grass, blue flower vegetable, green butterfly, triangular vegetable, three pod vegetable, bamboo grass, blue flower water bamboo grass, light bamboo leaves. 【Taste and Properties】Sweet, bland, cold. Enters the lung, stomach, and small intestine meridians. 【Dosage】15-30g; fresh product 60-90g. External use as appropriate.

(1) Used for external heat, or fever from heat diseases that do not subside, or throat swelling and pain, as well as boils and abscesses. This product is sweet and cold, with heat-clearing and detoxifying effects. For external heat or fever from heat diseases that do not subside, it can be used alone; it can also be combined with exterior-releasing or heat-clearing herbs. For throat redness and swelling, it can be combined with dandelion, black plum, or earth cow knee, and big green leaves. For treating boils and abscesses, it can be combined with ground herb, dandelion, and wild chrysanthemum.

(2) Used for urinary difficulty, edema, or dampness entering the bladder, urinary pain, and difficulty. This product has good diuretic effects, and for wind-water edema or urinary difficulty, it can be combined with duckweed and coriander; for damp-heat entering the bladder and urinary pain, it can be combined with tail grass, flat-leafed herb, and dandelion. (3) Additionally, it can be used for snake bites, both internally and externally.

(4) Duckweed is good at clearing heat and promoting urination. Clinical practice shows that after decocting this product, it can gradually reduce high fever and increase urine output, but after stopping the medication, the body temperature may rise again. Therefore, if used alone, it seems that the detoxifying effect is not strong, and it is advisable to combine it with other heat-clearing and detoxifying herbs in clinical use.

(5) Duckweed and light bamboo leaves can both clear heat and promote urination, with similar effects, but duckweed’s effect is stronger.

19Chui Pen Cao (Water Plantain)

Grows in fields near water, sweet, bland, slightly sour, and cool. It can clear heat and detoxify, reduce swelling, promote urination, and detoxify snake venom.Main Indications and Usage: For burns, abscesses, snake bites, and cancer: fresh grass 1-4 liang, wash, crush, and take juice. Dried product 5-10 grams, decocted. For external use, fresh grass as appropriate, wash, crush, and apply to the affected area.

20Deng Long Cao (Lantern Grass)

This one doesn’t need much explanation; I believe you often picked it as a child. It is sour and cool, clears heat and detoxifies, promotes urination and stops bleeding, reduces swelling and disperses lumps. Main Indications and Usage: (1) Sore throat, lung abscess, mumps. (2) Urinary difficulty, blood in urine. For the above conditions, use 3-5 grams, decocted. (3) Gum swelling: fresh grass washed, crushed, soaked in vinegar, and gargled. (4) Pemphigus: fresh whole grass washed, juice extracted, and applied to the affected area. Note: This herb has a uterine contraction effect and should be avoided by pregnant women.

21Cang Er Zi (Xanthium)

【Taste and Properties】 Warm, spicy, and bitter. 【Function and Indications】 Dispels wind and dampness, opens nasal passages. Used for wind-cold headache, nasal congestion, wind rash itching, and dampness obstruction. Note: The whole herb of Cang Er can also be used medicinally to treat acute and chronic gastroenteritis and bacterial dysentery.

22Ma Lan (Chrysanthemum)

Also a common wild vegetable. Also known as: Ma Lan Tou, Jie Qian Ju, Ji Er Chang, Hong Geng Cai, etc. Asteraceae family. The whole herb is used medicinally. It is cool in nature and spicy in taste. It enters the hand Taiyin lung and foot Jueyin liver meridians. It cools the blood, clears heat, promotes dampness, and detoxifies. It treats hemoptysis, epistaxis, blood dysentery, traumatic bleeding, malaria, jaundice, edema, turbid urination, sore throat, throat obstruction, hemorrhoids, boils, and snake bites. Dosage and Usage: Internal use: decocted, 3-6 grams (fresh 1-2 liang); or juice extracted. External use: crushed, applied, or decocted for washing. Selected Formulas: 1. For epistaxis: fresh leaves, one handful, washed with the second rinse of rice, crushed to extract natural juice, mixed with equal amounts of winter honey and taken warm. 2. For pulmonary tuberculosis: 4 grams of root, stewed with pig heart and lung. 3. For various malaria: Ma Lan juice, taken early in the morning, or mixed with sand sugar. 4. For intestinal colic: Ma Lan root and leaves chewed finely and swallowed. 5. For throat obstruction and tightness: Ma Lan root or leaves crushed, mixed with a little rice vinegar, dripped into the nostrils or gargled. 6. For sore throat: 2-3 liang of the whole herb, decocted and taken frequently. 7. For breast abscess: Ma Lan crushed and applied to the affected area. 8. For external ear inflammation: Ma Lan juice dripped into the ear.

23

Jie Cai (Shepherd’s Purse)

It is one of the most common wild vegetables, which can be stir-fried, cold tossed, or used as dumpling filling.

Also known as: Hu Sheng Cao, Xiang Tian Ji, Lan Gu Cai, etc. It belongs to the cruciferous family. The whole herb is used medicinally. It is neutral in nature and sweet in taste. It enters the hand Shaoyin, Taiyin, and foot Jueyin meridians. It harmonizes the spleen, promotes water metabolism, stops bleeding, and brightens the eyes. It treats dysentery, edema, gonorrhea, chyluria, hemoptysis, blood in stool, menorrhagia, and eye redness and pain. Dosage and Usage: Internal use: decocted, 3-5 grams (fresh 1-2 liang); or in pills or powders. External use: ground into powder for application, or juice extracted for application. Selected Formulas: 1. For dysentery: Jie Cai leaves burned to ash, mixed with honey soup for oral administration; or the whole herb 2 liang, decocted for oral administration. 2. For Yang syndrome edema: Jie Cai root 1 liang, Che Qian Cao 1 liang, decocted for oral administration. 3. For internal injury and hemoptysis: Jie Cai 1 liang, honey dates 1 liang, decocted for oral administration. 4. For bleeding and excessive menstruation: Jie Cai 1 liang, Long Ya Cao 1 liang, decocted for oral administration. 5. For children’s measles with excessive heat: fresh Jie Cai 1-2 liang (dried 8-12 grams), Bai Mao Gen 4-5 liang, decocted for long-term consumption instead of tea.

24Xiao Ji (Common Teasel)

One of the wild vegetables. Also known as: Ci Er Cai, Mao Ji, Ci Luo Bo, Dao Cai, Ye Hong Hua, etc.

It belongs to the Asteraceae family. The whole herb or root is used medicinally. It is cool in nature and sweet in taste. It enters the liver and spleen meridians. It cools the blood, dispels stasis, and stops bleeding. It treats hemoptysis, epistaxis, blood in urine, blood dysentery, blood in stool, blood collapse, acute infectious hepatitis, traumatic bleeding, boils, and abscesses. Dosage and Usage: Internal use: decocted, 1.5-3 grams (fresh 1-2 liang); juice extracted or ground into powder. External use: crushed for application or decocted for washing. Caution: Avoid use in cases of spleen and stomach deficiency cold without stasis. Selected Formulas: 1. For bleeding on the tongue, combined with severe epistaxis: fresh leaves one handful, crushed, juice extracted, mixed with half a cup of wine for oral administration. If fresh juice is not available, use dried powder mixed with cold water for oral administration. 2. For treating itching: Xiao Ji decoction, wash three times a day.

25Shui Qian Cai (Water Celery)

One of the wild vegetables. It belongs to the Apiaceae family. The whole herb is used medicinally. It is cool in nature and spicy in 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 another toxic plant, which is a robust plant that generally grows scattered, while water celery grows in patches near water or in wetlands.

26Tian Hu Sui (Coriander)

Also known as: Po Tong Qian, Ji Cai, and other names, it belongs to the Apiaceae family.

The whole herb is used medicinally. It is cold in nature and bitter and spicy in taste. It clears heat, promotes urination, reduces swelling, and detoxifies. It treats jaundice, dysentery, gonorrhea, urinary difficulty, eye cloudiness, throat swelling, boils, and traumatic injuries. Dosage and Usage: Internal use: decocted 3-5 grams, or juice extracted. External use: crushed for application, stuffed in the nose, or juice extracted for ear drops. Selected Formulas: 1. For hepatitis with jaundice: fresh Tian Hu Sui 5-8 grams (dried 3-5 grams), combined with 5 grams of Yin Chen Hao, decocted for oral administration three times a day. 2. For acute jaundice hepatitis: fresh Tian Hu Sui 1-2 liang, 1 liang of sugar, and half of wine, decocted for oral administration daily. 3. For Yang jaundice and children’s wind heat: Tian Hu Sui crushed, mixed with a little salt, and taken with boiling water. 4. For children’s summer heat: fresh Tian Hu Sui as appropriate, juice extracted, taken 3-5 spoonfuls, 5-6 times a day. 5. For dysentery: Tian Hu Sui, snake gourd, thorn pear root, and pomegranate peel, decocted for oral administration. 6. For kidney stones: Tian Hu Sui 1-2 liang, decocted for oral administration. 7. For urinary difficulty: fresh Tian Hu Sui 1 liang, crushed and squeezed for juice, mixed with 1 liang of sugar for oral administration, or decocted with sugar for oral administration. 8. For children’s malnutrition: Tian Hu Sui 5-10 grams, steamed with chicken liver or pig liver. 9. For shingles: fresh Tian Hu Sui one handful, crushed and juiced, mixed with 1 qian of realgar powder, applied to the affected area twice a day. 10. For ear rot: fresh Tian Hu Sui juice applied. 11. For whooping cough: Tian Hu Sui 5 qian, crushed and mixed with honey and hot water for oral administration.

27

Cu Jiang Cao (Sour Grass)

Also known as: Three-leaf sour grass, vinegar mother grass, and other names. It belongs to the Oxalidaceae family. The whole herb is used medicinally. It is cold in nature and sour in 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 discharge, measles, hemoptysis, epistaxis, throat swelling, boils, and abscesses, and is effective for traumatic injuries and burns. Dosage and Usage: Internal use: decocted 2-4 grams (fresh 1-2 liang), juice extracted or ground into powder. External use: decocted for washing, crushed for application, or juice extracted for application. Selected Formulas: 1. For diarrhea: Cu Jiang Cao 3 qian, mixed with brown sugar and steamed for oral administration. 2. For dysentery: Cu Jiang Cao ground into powder, 5 qian taken with boiling water. 3. For damp-heat jaundice: Cu Jiang Cao 1-1.5 liang, decocted twice and taken in portions. 4. For blood dysuria and heat dysuria: fresh grass juice taken with honey. 5. For urinary difficulty: Cu Jiang Cao one handful, juice extracted, mixed with wine for oral administration. For those who do not drink alcohol, use 3 inches of licorice and 1 jujube-sized piece of ginger, crushed, mixed with 5 fen of well water, and filtered for juice for oral administration. 6. For red and white discharge: Cu Jiang Cao dried and powdered, taken with warm wine. 7. For measles: Cu Jiang Cao 2-3 qian, decocted for oral administration. 8. For malaria: Cu Jiang Cao 3 qian, decocted for oral administration. 9. For rotten gums: fresh grass mixed with a little salt, crushed for juice, and used to clean the affected area, 3-5 times a day. 10. For sore throat: fresh grass 1-2 liang, a little salt, crushed, and wrapped in gauze to hold in the mouth. Or decocted for gargling, also treating oral inflammation. 11. For breast abscess: Cu Jiang Cao 5 qian, decocted for oral administration, and the residue applied externally.

28Juan Er (Roll Ear)

Chinese medicinal name: Po Po Zhi Jia Cai, also known as: Gua Zi Cao, Gao Jiao Shu Er Cao. It belongs to the Caryophyllaceae family. The whole herb is used medicinally. It is sweet in taste. It clears urinary heat symptoms. Dosage and Usage: Internal use: decocted 5-6 grams. External use: crushed for application. Selected Formulas: 1. For initial breast abscess in women: fresh grass crushed and mixed with wine lees to make a cake, heated and applied to the pulse point on the wrist, left breast on the right wrist, right breast on the left wrist. 2. For children’s wind-cold cough, fever, nasal congestion: Juan Er, coriander, 5-6 grams, and Hu Tui Zi leaves 2-3 grams, decocted, mixed with brown sugar, taken before breakfast and dinner. 3. For boils: fresh Juan Er whole grass mixed with tung oil, crushed, and applied to the affected area.

29Qi Gu Cao (Lacquer Grass)

Also known as: Pearl Grass, Di Song. It belongs to the Caryophyllaceae family. The whole herb is used medicinally. It is cool in nature and bitter and spicy in taste. It treats lacquer sores, bald sores, boils, scrofula, dental caries, children’s milk accumulation, and traumatic internal injuries. Dosage and Usage: Internal use: decocted 3-5 grams, or ground into powder. External use: crushed juice applied or crushed for application. Selected Formulas: 1. For lacquer sores: fresh grass crushed, mixed with loofah leaf juice and vegetable oil for application. 2. For tooth decay: crushed and stuffed into the tooth gap. 3. For traumatic internal injuries: Qi Gu Cao 5 qian, decocted for oral administration. 4. For snake bites: Qi Gu Cao and realgar crushed and applied.

Tong Quan Cao (Green Orchid)

Chinese medicinal name: Green Orchid Flower, also known as: Tiger Grass, Stone Ling Grass, Pus Medicine. It belongs to the Scrophulariaceae family. It is cool in nature, slightly sweet, and non-toxic. The whole herb is used medicinally. It reduces inflammation and detoxifies. It treats boils, abscesses, and burns. Selected Formulas: 1. For boils and abscesses: dried Tong Quan Cao, ground into fine powder, mixed with cold water for application, changed once a day. 2. For abscesses: dried Tong Quan Cao and hibiscus leaves crushed together, mixed with rice washing water for oral administration. 3. For burns and scalds: fresh grass crushed for juice, applied with clean cotton, frequently applied.

Bo Si Po Po Na (Persian Water Plantain)

Chinese medicinal name: Shen Zi Cao, also known as: Lantern Grass, Persian Water Bitter Lettuce. It belongs to the Scrophulariaceae family. It is neutral in nature, spicy, bitter, and salty. The whole herb is used medicinally. It detoxifies heat, treats kidney deficiency, and alleviates wind-dampness. Selected Formulas: 1. For kidney deficiency: Lantern Grass 1 liang, stewed with meat for consumption. 2. For scabies: Lantern Grass decocted for washing. 3. For wind-damp pain: Lantern Grass 1 liang, boiled in wine and taken warm. 4. For chronic malaria: Lantern Grass 1 liang, 1 qian of stinkweed, decocted for oral administration. 5. For children’s scrotal swelling: Lantern Grass 3 liang, decocted for steaming and washing the affected area.

32Ze Qi (Water Plant)

Taste: Slightly cold, bitter; toxic. Function and Indications: Promotes urination and reduces swelling, transforms phlegm and disperses lumps, kills insects and relieves itching. Used for ascites, edema, pulmonary tuberculosis, cervical lymph node tuberculosis, excessive phlegm and cough, and skin diseases. Dosage: 5-10 grams for decoction. External use as appropriate, caution for those with spleen and stomach deficiency cold.

33Gou Wei Ba Cao (Dog Tail Grass)

Also known as: Green Dog Tail Grass, Gu Yao Zi, Yao, Dog Tail Grass, Bright Grass, Arahant Grass. Main Indications: Clears heat, removes dampness, reduces swelling. Treats boils, sores, and red eyes. Dosage and Usage: Internal use: decocted, 2-4 grams (fresh 1-2 liang). External use: decocted for washing or crushed for application (sweet taste). Taste and Properties: Bland, neutral. Function and Indications: Dispels wind and brightens the eyes, clears heat and promotes urination. Used for wind-heat colds, conjunctivitis, eye redness and pain, jaundice hepatitis, and urinary difficulty; externally treats cervical lymph node tuberculosis.

35Yi Chuan Hong (One String Red)

The medicinal part is the whole herb, which can be harvested during its growth period, used fresh or dried for later use. Taste and Properties: Sweet, neutral. Clears heat, cools blood, reduces swelling. Main Indications and Selected Formulas: For initial stage of boils: fresh Yi Chuan Hong as appropriate, crushed and applied externally.

36Ya She Cao (Duck Tongue Grass)

Duck Tongue Grass has dietary effects: it is bitter and cool; it has heat-clearing and detoxifying effects; it treats dysentery, enteritis, acute tonsillitis, erysipelas, and boils. It can also be used for acute bronchitis and whooping cough. Preparation Guidance: 1. For hemoptysis: 1-2 liang of Duck Tongue Grass. Stew with lean pork for consumption. 2. For red and white dysentery: appropriate amount of Duck Tongue Grass, dried. Brew as tea daily for 3-4 days. 3. For boils: Duck Tongue Grass mixed with tung oil and applied to the affected area. 4. For tooth extraction: 2 qian of water jade hairpin, 2 qian of jade hairpin flower root, 1 qian of realgar, and one fish (about 1 jin). The first three herbs are ground into fine powder, the fish entrails removed, and the medicine sewn up, hung in a cool, ventilated place for about 50 days, and frost-like substances will grow on the fish scales, which is the medicinal powder used. When used, gently peel the gums and apply this medicine (about the amount of one scale of medicine), and shortly after, the tooth can be extracted. This medicine should not be swallowed to avoid poisoning. 5. For snake and insect bites: fresh Duck Tongue Grass, crushed and applied. Caution: Avoid use in cases of deficiency cold diarrhea.

37Feng Yan Lan (Eye of Phoenix)

Also known as: Water Hyacinth, Water Floating Lotus.

It is used medicinally with the whole herb. Collected in spring and summer, washed, used fresh or dried. Taste and Properties: Bland, cool. Function and Indications: Clears heat and relieves summer heat, promotes urination and reduces swelling. Used for heat stroke, thirst, kidney inflammation, and urinary difficulty. Dosage: 0.5-1 liang.

38Lan Hua Shen (Orchid Ginseng)

Tonifies deficiency, releases the exterior. Treats deficiency damage, hemoptysis, epistaxis, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, women’s leukorrhea, wind-cold cough, stomach pain, diarrhea, and knife wounds.

39Chai Hu (Bupleurum)

Taste and Properties: Slightly cold, bitter, spicy, enters the liver, lung, and spleen meridians.

Function: Releases the exterior and drains heat, soothes the liver and relieves depression, and raises yang qi. Main Indications: Fever from colds, alternating chills and fever, malaria, liver depression and qi stagnation, chest and rib distension, prolapse of the rectum, uterine prolapse, and irregular menstruation. Dosage: 3-10 grams for decoction. For exterior-releasing and heat-draining, the dosage should be slightly higher, and it is advisable to use the raw product. For soothing the liver and relieving depression, it should be vinegar-fried, and for raising yang, it can be used raw or vinegar-fried, with the dosage being slightly lower.

42Sang Bai Pi (Mulberry Root Bark)

Taste and Properties: Sweet and cold, enters the lung meridian. Function: Drains lung heat and relieves cough, promotes water metabolism and reduces swelling. Used for lung heat cough, facial swelling, and urinary difficulty.

41Yu Zhu (Polygonatum)

Nourishes yin, moistens dryness, relieves restlessness, and quenches thirst. Treats heat disease with yin injury, cough with thirst, deficiency fever, easy hunger, and frequent urination.

40Mai Dong (Ophiopogon)

Taste and Properties: Sweet, slightly bitter, slightly cold. Enters the heart, lung, and stomach meridians. Function and Indications: Nourishes yin and generates fluids, moistens the lungs and clears the heart. Used for dry cough due to lung dryness, yin deficiency cough, throat obstruction and pain, fluid injury thirst, internal heat thirst, restlessness and insomnia, and dry constipation.

Hong Liao (Red Smartweed)1. “Ming Yi Bie Lu”: Hong Liao, like Ma Liao but larger, grows by water. Harvest in May. 2. “Gang Mu”: This liao is very large, and the flowers are also numerous and red, hence the name Hong, which also means large. “Bie Lu” has a name but is not used in the herbal section, and there is a Tian Liao, which is said to be a name for water liao. According to this, the two are one, one referring to the fruit and the other to the stem and leaves, and now they are combined as one. Its stem is as thick as a thumb, hairy, its leaves are as large as those of the common rue, its flowers are light red and spike-like, and in late autumn, the seeds become flat like sour jujube seeds, red-black in color and white in flesh, not very pungent. The medicinal source: the stem and leaves of the Polygonaceae plant. Harvesting and Storage: Late autumn after frost, cut the stems and leaves, wash, cut the stems into small sections, and dry; leaves should be dried in a ventilated place. Ecological Environment: Grows by roadsides and wetlands. Resource Distribution: Distributed throughout the country except for the Tibet Autonomous Region. Taste and Properties: Pungent; neutral; slightly toxic. Enters the liver and spleen meridians. Function and Indications: Dispels wind and dampness; clears heat and detoxifies; invigorates blood; stops malaria. Main indications: wind-damp bi pain; dysentery; diarrhea; vomiting and diarrhea; edema; beriberi; boils and abscesses; snake and insect bites; children’s malnutrition and hernia; traumatic injuries; malaria.

Huang Hua Cai (Day Lily)

Day lily is a perennial herb’s flower bud, with a fresh taste and tender texture, rich in nutrients, containing abundant pollen, sugar, protein, vitamin C, calcium, fat, carotene, amino acids, and other essential nutrients for the human body. Its carotene content even exceeds that of tomatoes. Day lily is sweet and cool in nature, with effects of stopping bleeding, reducing inflammation, clearing heat, promoting dampness, aiding digestion, brightening the eyes, and calming the mind. It is effective for hemoptysis, blood in stool, urinary difficulty, insomnia, and insufficient milk production, and can be used as a tonic after illness or childbirth. Taste: Sweet, neutral. Effects: Nourishes blood, soothes the liver, promotes urination, and reduces swelling. Treats dizziness, tinnitus, palpitations, back pain, hemoptysis, epistaxis, blood in the large intestine, edema, gonorrhea, sore throat, and breast abscess. Treats breast abscess and swelling: Day lily root crushed and applied. Treats children’s malnutrition: Day lily leaves 15 grams, decocted for oral administration. Modern scholars have further discovered the medicinal value of day lily, such as Japanese scholars calling it “brain-healthy vegetable”; the Chinese Journal of Nutrition has evaluated day lily as having a significant effect in lowering animal serum cholesterol. It is known that elevated cholesterol is a major factor leading to diseases in middle-aged and elderly people and body decline. There are not many delicious, nutritious vegetables that can combat aging, and day lily happens to have these characteristics. Regular consumption of day lily can also moisturize the skin, enhance skin elasticity and resilience, making the skin tender, plump, smooth, and soft, reducing wrinkles and fading spots, adding beauty. Day lily also has antibacterial immune functions, with moderate anti-inflammatory and detoxifying effects, and has a certain role in preventing infections. Day lily is a food that is close to damp heat, and those with ulcers, injuries, or gastrointestinal discomfort should eat less, and those with phlegm, especially asthma patients, should avoid consumption.

Zhi Zi (Gardenia)

Enters the heart, liver, lung, stomach, and triple warmer meridians. Classification: Rubiaceae. Function Classification: Heat-clearing and fire-draining herbs. Effects: Drains fire and relieves irritability; clears heat and promotes dampness; cools blood and detoxifies; dried Zhi Zi: cools blood and stops bleeding. Main Indications: Heat disease with irritability; liver fire causing red eyes; headaches; damp-heat jaundice; urinary disorders; blood dysentery; mouth and tongue sores; abscesses and toxic swellings; sprains and swelling. Taste: Bitter, cold, non-toxic. Dosage: Internal use: decocted 5-10 grams; or in pills or powders. External use: appropriate amount, ground into powder or mixed for application.

Huo Xiang (Agastache)

Taste: Spicy; slightly warm. Enters the lung, spleen, and stomach meridians. Function and Indications: Dispels summer heat and releases the exterior; transforms dampness and harmonizes the stomach. Main indications: Summer colds; cold and hot headaches; chest and abdominal fullness; vomiting and diarrhea; pregnancy-related vomiting; nasal congestion; hand and foot ringworm.

Xi Huang Cao (Yellow Flower Grass)

Taste: Bitter, cold. Clears heat, promotes dampness, reduces jaundice, and dispels dampness. It is a very good herb for treating hepatitis. Taste and Properties: Sweet and bitter, cool. Dosage and Usage: Internal use: decocted 25-50 grams (fresh 100-150 grams). Function and Indications: Clears heat and promotes dampness, cools blood and disperses stasis. Treats acute hepatitis, acute cholecystitis, dysentery, enteritis, urinary retention, and traumatic swelling. Jaundice hepatitis: symptoms include yellowing of the skin and sclera, chills and fever, fatigue, poor appetite, liver area pain, liver and spleen enlargement, yellow urine, red tongue with thin yellow coating, and wiry slippery pulse. Acute cholecystitis: symptoms include chills and fever, pain in the upper right abdomen, radiating to the right shoulder and back, dry mouth and bitterness, nausea and vomiting, or accompanied by constipation or diarrhea, jaundice, etc.

The above content is sourced from the internet for reference only. Please follow the doctor's advice! Do not self-medicate!