So Comprehensive! 50 Common Chinese Herbal Medicines Found in Rural Areas and Their Amazing Efficacy!
Originally mountains and rivers, extremely life vegetation. Every tree and plant of nature has its use, and they are all good things that nature has given to mankind. We may care more about flowers and plants, but we do not know that the wild flowers and weeds on the roadside also have many magical functions.
You may have seen it many times, but you don’t know the name. Today, let’s take a look at the herbs that grow on the roadside.
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Chinese Herbal Medicine
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The exploration of Chinese herbal medicine by the Chinese people has a history of thousands of years. According to legend, Shennong tasted a hundred herbs and pioneered medicine, and he is revered as the “Medicine Emperor.”
Since plant medicine accounts for the majority of traditional Chinese medicine, it is also called Chinese herbal medicine. Currently, there are about 5000 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine used in various places, and the prescriptions formed by the combination of various medicinal materials are innumerable.
The application theory of traditional Chinese medicine is quite unique. Traditional Chinese medicine has four qi and five flavors. The four qi, also known as four natures, refer to the cold, hot, warm, and cool properties of the medicine. The five flavors refer to the pungent, sour, sweet, bitter, and salty tastes of drugs. The qi and taste of Chinese herbal medicine vary, and so do their therapeutic effects.
However, all medicines have some toxicity; without the guidance of a TCM practitioner, one should not attempt to self-medicate to avoid problems. Only under the guidance of a TCM doctor can the magical power of herbs be fully realized! Let’s take a look at the Chinese herbal medicines around us!
车前草 (Che Qian Cao, Plantain)
车前草 is highly adaptable and can be found everywhere from south to north in China, from mountain fields to roadside rivers. It has a sweet taste and cold nature. It has diuretic, heat-clearing, eyesight-improving, and expectorant effects.
Indications include urinary obstruction, cloudy urine, leukorrhea, hematuria, jaundice, edema, heat dysentery, diarrhea, epistaxis, red eye swelling and pain, throat pain, cough, and skin ulcers.
金银花 (Jin Yin Hua, Honeysuckle)
金银花 blooms in March, has five petals, is slightly fragrant, with a red pedicel. Initially white, it turns yellow after one or two days, hence the name Honeysuckle. It is also known as mandarin duck vine due to its paired flowers.
Honeysuckle has been praised since ancient times as a good medicine for clearing heat and detoxification. It is sweet, cold, and fragrant, clearing heat without harming the stomach, and can dispel evil. Honeysuckle can not only disperse wind-heat but is also effective in clearing blood toxins, used for various febrile diseases such as body heat, rashes, sore throat, and carbuncles.
蒲公英 (Pu Gong Ying, Dandelion)
蒲公英 is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Compositae family. Its seeds have a white crown hair forming a velvet ball, which floats to new places after blooming.
Dandelion contains various healthy nutrients such as dandelion alcohol, dandelion glycosides, and choline, with diuretic, laxative, jaundice-reducing, and gallbladder-promoting effects. It also contains proteins, fats, carbohydrates, trace elements, and vitamins, making it a plant for both medicine and food.
鸭跖草 (Ya Zhi Cao, Duck’s Foot Grass)
Also known as orchid grass or bamboo leaf grass, it has unusual blue flowers. It is harvested and dried in summer and autumn.
Used for colds and fevers, thirst due to heat, throat swelling and pain, edema with reduced urination, and carbuncle swelling.
垂盆草 (Chui Pen Cao, Drooping Pot Grass)
Drooping pot grass has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, clearing damp-heat, and reducing glutamic-pyruvic transaminase. However, those with spleen and stomach deficiency and cold should use it cautiously. It treats burns, carbuncles, mastitis, mumps, and other conditions.
酸浆 (Suan Jiang, Sour Pulp)
Sour pulp has many names, including lantern grass, vinegar mother grass, and others, varying by region.
It has the effects of clearing heat and dampness, dispelling phlegm, and relieving cough. It is mainly used for damp-heat jaundice, difficult urination, chronic cough, and other conditions.
苍耳 (Cang Er, Xanthium)
Xanthium is a familiar plant that is toxic, with the whole plant being poisonous. The buds and fruits are the most toxic, containing toxic proteins and glycosides that can damage the heart, liver, and kidneys.
It dispels wind and dissipates heat, detoxifies, and kills insects. It is used for headaches, dizziness, dampness, red eyes, and skin itching.
马兰头 (Ma Lan Tou, Malan Head)
It is also a common vegetable known as Malan, step before chrysanthemum, and others. The whole herb is used medicinally. It is cold in nature and spicy in taste, entering the Taiyin Lung and Foot Jueyin Liver meridians. It cools the blood, clears heat, promotes diuresis, and detoxifies.
护生草 (Hu Sheng Cao, Protect Raw Grass)
It is a cruciferous plant used for its whole herb. It is neutral in nature and sweet in taste, entering the Shaoyin, Taiyin, and Foot Jueyin meridians. It harmonizes the spleen, promotes water metabolism, stops bleeding, and brightens the eyes. It treats dysentery, edema, gonorrhea, and other conditions.
小蓟 (Xiao Ji, Small Thistle)
Also known as prickly cabbage, cat thistle, and others. The whole herb or root is used medicinally. It is cool in nature and sweet in taste, entering the liver and spleen meridians. It cools the blood, removes blood stasis, and stops bleeding. It treats hematemesis, epistaxis, blood in urine, and other conditions.
水芹菜 (Shui Qincai, Water Celery)
It is a medicinal whole herb of the Umbelliferae family. It is cool in nature and spicy in taste, calming the liver, relieving the surface, and permeating rashes. It is used for the early stages of measles, hypertension, and insomnia. Caution is advised as there is a toxic variety.
天胡荽 (Tian Hu Sui, Coriander)
Also known as broken copper money, chicken sausage vegetables, and others. The whole herb is used medicinally. It is cold and bitter in taste, clearing heat, promoting diuresis, reducing swelling, and detoxifying. It treats jaundice, dysentery, and other conditions.
酢浆草 (Cu Jiang Cao, Sorrel Grass)
Also known as clover, vinegar motherwort, and others. The whole herb is used medicinally. It is cold and sour, entering the Yangming and Taiyang meridians. It clears heat and dampness, cools blood, disperses blood stasis, and detoxifies. It treats diarrhea, dysentery, jaundice, and other conditions.
婆婆指甲菜 (Po Po Zhi Jia Cai, Mother-in-law Fingernail Vegetable)
Also known as melon seed grass and high-legged ear grass. The whole herb is used medicinally. It is sweet in taste and purges urination heat symptoms.
漆姑草 (Qi Gu Cao, Lacquer Grass)
Also known as pearl grass and pine. The whole herb is used medicinally. It is cold in nature and bitter in taste. It treats lacquer sores, alopecia, carbuncles, and other conditions.
通泉草 (Tong Quan Cao, Tongquan Grass)
Also known as green orchid, tiger grass, and pus bubble medicine. It is cool, slightly sweet, and non-toxic. The whole herb is used medicinally. It has anti-inflammatory and detoxifying effects, treating carbuncles, furuncles, and burns.
波斯婆婆纳 (Bo Si Po Po Na, Persia Bharma)
Also known as kidney grass and lantern grass. It is neutral, bitter, and salty. The whole herb is used medicinally. It detoxifies, treats kidney deficiency, and rheumatism.
泽漆 (Ze Qi, Zigzag Paint)
It has diuretic, detoxifying, and anti-inflammatory effects. It is used for ascites, edema, pulmonary tuberculosis, and other conditions.
狗尾巴草 (Gou Wei Ba Cao, Dogtail Grass)
Also known as green Setaria, grain weed, and others. It is used to remove heat, eliminate moisture, and reduce swelling. It treats carbuncles, ringworm, and red eyes.
旋复花 (Xuan Fu Hua, Rotating Compound Flower)
The root and leaf treat knife injuries and furuncle poison; the flower is a stomach-invigorating expectorant, also treating chest discomfort, stomach bloating, cough, and vomiting. The leaves and wild chrysanthemums differ significantly in appearance and smell.
黄花菜 (Huang Hua Cai, Yellow Cauliflower)
Yellow cauliflower is a perennial herbaceous flower bud, fresh and tender, rich in nutrition, containing essential nutrients for the human body. It has a sweet and cool taste, with hemostatic, anti-inflammatory, heat-clearing, and other effects, effective for vomiting blood, blood in stool, and other conditions.
小飞蓬 (Xiao Fei Peng, Small Erigeron)
It is a perennial herb that has the effect of clearing heat and promoting diuresis, dispersing blood stasis, and detumescence. It is distributed in most parts of the country.
金线草 (Jin Xian Cao, Goldenrod)
The medicinal part is the whole grass, which can be harvested during the growth period and used fresh or dried.
鸭舌草 (Ya She Cao, Duck Tongue Herb)
It has a bitter taste and cold nature; it clears heat and detoxifies. It is used for dysentery, enteritis, acute tonsillitis, and other conditions.
兰花参 (Lan Hua Shen, Orchid Ginseng)
It has a bitter taste and cold nature; it clears heat and detoxifies. It is used for dysentery, enteritis, acute tonsillitis, and other conditions.
柴胡 (Chai Hu, Bupleurum)
It is slightly cold, bitter, and spicy, entering the liver, lung, and spleen meridians. It functions to release the exterior, drain heat, soothe the liver, and lift yang qi. It treats colds, fevers, malaria, and other conditions.
麦冬 (Mai Dong, Ophiopogon)
It is sweet, slightly bitter, and slightly cold, entering the heart, lung, and stomach meridians. It nourishes yin, generates fluids, moistens the lungs, and clears the heart. It is used for dry cough, yin deficiency, and other conditions.
蛇莓 (She Mei, Duchesnea Indica)
The whole herb has the function of clearing heat and removing toxicity, promoting blood circulation, and can cure snakebite and furuncle. It is slightly toxic, but a small amount is safe to consume.
玉竹 (Yu Zhu, Polygonatum Odoratum)
It nourishes yin, moistens dryness, and quenches thirst. It treats heat-induced yin injury, cough, and frequent urination.
桑白皮 (Sang Bai Pi, Mulberry White Skin)
It is the skin of mulberry root, sweet and cold, entering the lung meridian. It purges the lung and relieves asthma, promotes water metabolism, and is used for cough and asthma of lung heat.
曼陀罗 (Man Tuo Luo, Datura Stramonium)
It is toxic and serves as a sedative, relaxing muscles. It has various uses in traditional medicine.
鬼针草 (Gui Zhen Cao, Bidens Pilosa)
It can be eaten when tender and is said to be effective in reducing transaminase levels. It can help dispel liver heat.
苦菜 (Ku Cai, Bitter Vegetable)
The tender leaves of Acanthopanax senticosus. It has the effects of clearing heat, cooling blood, detoxifying, and brightening the eyes. It treats dysentery, jaundice, and other conditions.
葵菜 (Kui Cai, Sunflower Vegetable)
There are wild and cultivated varieties. It is beneficial to health and can be used to treat various conditions.
荨麻 (Qian Ma, Nettle)
It can cause a tingling sensation upon contact. It is used in folk medicine for soups and is effective for treating coughs and toothaches.
龙葵 (Long Kui, Solanum Nigrum)
It clears heat and treats tumors, and is commonly used as a wild vegetable with liver-protecting and stomach-strengthening properties.
蒺藜 (Ji Li, Thistle)
It is distributed throughout the country and can be used as feed when fresh. The fruit can be used medicinally to clear the liver and brighten the eyes.
何首乌 (He Shou Wu, Polygonum Multiflorum)
It is used to nourish qi and blood, detoxify, and has calming properties. It can be consumed regularly.
野薄荷 (Ye Bo He, Wild Mint)
It has similar taste and effects to cultivated varieties, dispersing wind and heat, and detoxifying fish and shrimp.
棕榈 (Zong Lü, Palm)
Brown hair, flowers, and roots are used in medicine, with astringent properties that can stop bleeding, particularly effective for gynecological leukorrhea.
夏枯草 (Xia Ku Cao, Prunella Vulgaris)
It is commonly used in herbal teas for its heat-clearing properties, effective in eliminating dampness and preventing heatstroke.
益母草 (Yi Mu Cao, Motherwort)
It can be used as a whole herb, effective for regulating menstruation, relieving pain, and detoxifying. It treats irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhea, and other conditions.
决明子 (Jue Ming Zi, Cassia Seed)
It is known for its eye-brightening properties. The seeds can be used to treat constipation and hyperlipidemia.
蛇床子 (She Chuang Zi, Snake Bed)
It is used to warm the kidneys, strengthen yang, dispel dampness, and kill insects. It treats impotence, uterine cold, and other conditions.
绞股蓝 (Jiao Gu Lan, Gynostemma Pentaphyllum)
It is known as southern ginseng and is used for weakness, fatigue, and other conditions.
紫云英 (Zi Yun Ying, Purple Yunying)
It is cultivated throughout China and is used for its medicinal properties, including dispelling wind and invigorating the spleen.