Water cotton

Water cotton

(Yunnan Chinese herbal medicine)

[synonym] Mantianxing, huacimicifuga, lvcimicifuga and wild cotton.

[source] it is the root and leaf of Anemone leucocephala in Ranunculaceae.

[plant morphology] anemone leucocephala

Perennial herbs, 30-60 cm high. All hairy. The root is conic, dark brown, with fibrous hairs at the top. Stem erect. Leaves basal, 3-compound, leaflets obliquely ovate or ovoid, 3-9 cm long, 2-8 cm wide, margin serrate; stem leaves smaller, leaf back densely white woolly. Cymes terminal; flowers white. Achenes densely filiform hairy.

It is often found in open grassland or open forest.

[collection] harvest in summer and autumn, wash, slice, dry or fresh.

Bitter, cold and poisonous.

Functions and indications: clearing away heat and dampness, promoting blood circulation and eliminating diseases.

[should avoid] pregnant women should not take it.

[prescription selection] ① for dysentery, gonorrhea, dystocia, stillbirth, stomachache, food accumulation: wild cotton for one to three dollars. Take it in water.

② Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis pain, internal bleeding caused by trauma: appropriate amount of wild cotton root, take with wine (the amount of crude drug should not exceed one money each time).

③ Treatment of sores and ulcers: take the juice from the fresh leaves of wild cotton and apply it externally.