Prawn whisker grass

Prawn whisker grass

(Guizhou herbal medicine)

[synonym] green grass and Herba Ephedrae.

[source] it is the whole plant of the Compositae.

[plant morphology] prawnwort

Annual herbs. Stem erect, 30-40 cm high, branched below middle. Leaves alternate, sparse, linear, 1-3 cm long, 2-3 mm wide, apex acute, base narrow, entire, sessile. Inflorescence small, terminal; few flowers; involucre campanulate, bracts 2-layered, outer bracts broadly ovate, inner bracts slightly larger; 3-4 ligulate flowers, white, female; 2-3 tubular flowers, bisexual. Achenes oblong. The flowering period is from August to September.

On grass slopes, roadsides or fields. It is distributed in East China, central China, South China and southwest China.

[collection] harvest in summer and autumn.

Bitter and smooth.

Functions and indications: clearing away heat and toxin, promoting diuresis and detumescence, and dispersing wind.

[selection] 1. Treatment of edema: two pairs of green grass. Simmer water clothes.

② Treatment unknown swelling poison: green grass, wild chrysanthemum branches and leaves each one or two. Simmer water clothes, three times a day; take medicine dregs to pound down, apply on the affected area.

③ Cure wind heat headache: green grass five money. Simmer water clothes.