Astringent grass

Astringent grass

(records of Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine)

[synonym] Jinbiao grass, Jinbiao.

[source] it is the root of Potentilla argentea.

[plant morphology] Potentilla argentea

Perennial herbs. The root is polar, slightly curved, yellowish, ca. 1. 5 cm in diam. The leaves are simple, pinnate, compound, basal; the rachis is 8-13 cm long, covered with white slender pubescence; the leaflets are usually 11-16 pairs, variable in density, alternate, sessile, oblong to oblong, 1.5-2.5 cm long, 8 mm wide, apex obtuse, margin densely pointed serrate, both sides covered with silver gray filiform hairs, glossy. Flowers arranged in incomplete umbels, rachis longer than leaves, with leaflike bracts; flowers small, 5 mm in diameter; calyx expanded, ovate, covered with filiform hairs, 5-lobed, lobes pointed, epicalyx 5-lobed, between sepals, linear lanceolate; petals 5-obovate, apex obtuse, longer than sepals, yellow; stamens numerous, separate; carpels numerous, 1-locular, style short, glabrescent. Achenes small, nearly glabrous, usually glossy. The flowering period is from May to June.

It grows on the sunny slopes of high mountains. It is distributed in Yunnan, Sichuan and other places.

[flavor] slightly cold, astringent, sweet, non-toxic.

[function indications] it is used to treat wind heat, hoarseness, damp phlegm, wind evil, abdominal pain, dysentery and leucorrhea.

[usage and dosage] oral administration: decoction, 0.5-1 Liang.