Sijiqing

Chinese Name: Sijiqing

[category]: foliage

Purpleflower hollyleaf

[alias]: Red holly, big leaf holly.

The leaf of Ilex chinensis is derived from the plant.

[harvesting]: harvest in autumn and winter and dry in the sun.

[nature and taste]: the leaves are oblong, 6-12cm long, sharp or acuminate at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, slightly serrated at the edge, brown or grayish green on the upper surface, glossy and light on the lower surface. The petiole is about 1cm long. It is slightly fragrant and bitter. It is cool in nature, bitter and astringent in taste.

[plant morphology]: evergreen tree, up to 13m high, with gray bark and longitudinal groove. The leaves are alternate, thin leathery, narrowly oblong or lanceolate, 6-10cm long and 2-3.5cm wide, with acuminate apex, cuneate base, slightly serrated margin, reddish brown and glossy after drying; some petioles are dark purple. They are dioecious, cymose with leaf axils or outside leaf axils; petals are purplish red or light red; male flowers are 10-30, 4-5 in number, calyx bell shaped, corolla 2.5mm long; female inflorescence has 3-7 flowers, staminodes about 1 / 2 of petals, stigma thick discoid. The fruit is oval, dark red, with 4-5 nuclei and a deep groove on the back. The flowering period is May and the fruiting period is October.

[growing place]: it grows in the forest edge and shrub on the sunny hillside. Distributed in the south of the Yangtze River.

[chemical composition]: it contains protocatechuic acid, protocatechuic aldehyde, ursolic acid, flavonoid glycosides, triterpenoids and sugars.

Indications: clearing away heat and toxin, removing swelling and blood stasis. For pneumonia, acute pharyngitis, dysentery, biliary tract infection, urinary tract infection; external treatment of burns, lower limb ulcers, leprosy ulcers.