Artemisia selengensis

Artemisia selengensis

(medicinal plants in desert areas of China)

[synonyms] Chenopodium kennocarpum, Atriplex bassiana, Agropyron wushanense, Rhizoma maojiliang (medicinal plants in desert areas of China), Uster hamhag, Budun hamhag, Manan hamhag (Mongolian name).

[source] the whole plant of Chenopodiaceae.

[plant morphology] Chenopodium stellatum

Annual herb, 20-40 cm high. The whole plant is covered with soft hairs and turns red after frost. Stem erect, striped, yellowish green or light red, branched, spreading, hairy. Leaves alternate, fleshy, terete or semi terete, linear, 0.3-1.5 cm long, 1-5 mm wide, apex obtuse, base tapering, densely hairy; without petiole. The flowers are solitary or two in axils, but only one develops; the perianth is spherical, pot shaped, with five dentate lobes at the apex, and there are five conical appendages with hairs in the middle of the back in fruit stage; the stamens are 5, protruding out of the perianth; the ovary is ovate, the style is short, and the stigma is 2, longer. The utricle is flat, ovate, completely enclosed in the perianth. The perianth has a star like protuberance and five star shape when bearing fruit. Seeds transverse, suborbicular, 1-2 mm in diam., smooth.

It grows on sand dune, Gobi, saline alkali land, grassland, river valley or river beach. Distributed in Northeast, northwest, North China, Shandong and other places.

[collection] harvest in summer and dry in the sun.

[flavor] sweet and light, slightly cold.

Functions and indications: clearing away heat and dampness. Treat dandruff.

[selected formula] for dandruff (seborrheic dermatitis): appropriate amount of Artemisia selengensis and hemp leaves. Fry and wash in water twice a day.