It is a plant used for both fortune and ornamental purposes, welcomed into many households.
It is also a valuable medicine. In Jiangxi, if a child has a high fever, locals use its dried roots in appropriate amounts, ground into powder, and taken with cold boiled water to reduce fever.
This herb is widely known as Wanshouzhu (Bamboo Lily), also known as Shanzhuhua gen (Mountain Bamboo Flower Root), Zhu Jie Shen (Bamboo Joint Ginseng), Bai Gen Yao (White Root Medicine), Bai Long Xu (White Dragon Whiskers), and Bai Mao Xu (White Hair Whiskers), belonging to the Liliaceae family.
The rhizome is horizontal, hard in texture, and nodular in shape.
It is long and white, fitting the names Bai Long Xu, Bai Gen Yao, and Bai Mao Xu.
The leaves are papery, lanceolate to narrowly elliptical. They are elegantly shaped and remain evergreen throughout the year.
Flowering occurs from May to July each year. The umbel has 3-10 flowers, which are purple or white. The tepals are obliquely spreading and lanceolate.
The seeds are dark brown.
It grows on hillsides, under forests, or in grasslands. It is distributed in Shaanxi and various regions south of the Yangtze River.
The medicinal part is the root and rhizome of Wanshouzhu. It is harvested in summer and autumn, cleaned, and dried.
Its properties are bitter and pungent, and it is cool in nature.
It clears heat and detoxifies, relaxes tendons, and invigorates blood circulation. It is used to treat persistent high fever, deficiency heat with bone steaming, rheumatic numbness, joint and lower back pain, dysmenorrhea, excessive menstruation, carbuncles, abscesses, and fractures.
Selected formulas:
1. For treating high fever in children: Use an appropriate amount of Shanzhuhua gen, ground into powder. Take 3g each time, twice a day, with cold boiled water. (From “Jiangxi Herbal Medicine”) This is the specific dosage from the previous formula.
2. For treating numbness in hands and feet: 60g of Shanzhuhua gen and one egg. Stew in water and consume the soup and egg. (From “Jiangxi Herbal Medicine”)
3. For treating rheumatic pain: 18g of Shanzhuhua gen, 15g of Hong Hai Er gen (Red Child Root), and 9g each of Qian Cao gen (Madder Root), Da Xue Teng gen (Big Blood Vine Root), and Hu Ci gen (Tiger Thorn Root). Soak in one jin of white liquor for seven days, taking 15-60g each time, twice a day. (From “Jiangxi Herbal Medicine”)
Hong Hai Er is a variety of the Begonia plant, its root is sweet and cold, used to treat rheumatic bone pain, lower back pain, and coughs from colds.
Qian Cao gen is bitter and cold, entering the heart and liver meridians. It promotes blood circulation, stops bleeding, opens meridians, and alleviates cough and phlegm. It can treat rheumatic pain as well as hemoptysis, blood collapse, and amenorrhea.
Da Xue Teng is bitter and neutral, entering the large intestine and liver meridians. It clears heat and detoxifies, invigorates blood, and dispels wind. It can be used for rheumatic pain, contusions, and abdominal pain during menstruation.
Hu Ci gen is bitter and sweet, neutral, dispelling wind and promoting dampness, invigorating blood and reducing swelling. It treats gout and rheumatic pain.
The four herbs combined with the relaxing and blood-invigorating Shanzhuhua gen treat rheumatic pain.
4. For treating lower back pain: Use an appropriate amount of Shanzhuhua gen, ground into powder. Take 6g each time, mixed with water or liquor, twice a day. (From “Jiangxi Herbal Medicine”)
5. For treating rheumatic joint pain, dysmenorrhea, excessive menstruation, and pulmonary tuberculosis: 9g-15g of Bai Gen Yao (White Root Medicine). Decoction or stew with chicken. (From “Yunnan Chinese Herbal Medicine”)
6. For treating contusions, fractures, gunshot wounds, abscesses, and cellulitis: Fresh Bai Gen Yao pounded and applied to the affected area. (From “Yunnan Chinese Herbal Medicine”)
7. For treating snake bites causing coma: 6g of Shanzhuhua gen, ground into powder, combined with 9g of Wannianqing gen (Evergreen Root), decocted in water and taken. (From “Jiangxi Herbal Medicine”)
Wannianqing is bitter, sweet, and cold with slight toxicity. It can clear heat and detoxify, strengthen the heart, and promote diuresis.
In the above formulas, Wanshouzhu is referred to as Shanzhuhua gen and Bai Gen Yao, while in Guizhou, it is also called Bai Wei Sun (Hundred Tail Bamboo), a folk remedy in Guizhou, growing in shady areas of low mountainous forests, with thick white rhizomes.
It is mainly used to moisten the lungs and stop coughs, strengthen the spleen, and eliminate accumulation. It is indicated for deficiency cough with blood, intestinal wind with blood, and food stagnation with fullness. This is consistent with the previously mentioned efficacy of Wanshouzhu in treating high fever.
Selected formulas:
1. For treating cough with blood in phlegm: 15g of Bai Wei Sun, steamed with rock candy. (From “Guiyang Folk Herbal Medicine”)
2. For treating pulmonary emphysema: Zhulinxiao (Bamboo Forest Xia), Bai Xian Pi (White Fresh Skin), and Lu Xian Cao (Deer Horn Grass), stewed with chicken. (From “Sichuan Chinese Medicine Records”)
3. For treating post-illness weakness and enuresis: 1 liang of Bai Wei Sun, 1 liang of Yan Baicai (Rock Cabbage), and 1 liang of Da Xian Cai (Big Amaranth). Stewed with meat. (From “Guiyang Folk Herbal Medicine”)
Reminder: Due to individual differences in health conditions, the formulas provided in this article should be adjusted according to specific symptoms, and it is recommended to seek guidance from a professional doctor. (Some images are sourced from the internet; please contact for removal if there is any infringement.)
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