Wild indigo

Wild indigo

(Zhejiang folk herbal medicine)

[synonym] xiangkaikou, bainiuxi, Daqing, jiutoushicao, Gaoshan pepper, Daye capsicum, huangdingkucao, jiegucao, lvgudaqing (Zhejiang folk herbal medicine).

[source] it is the whole plant of guanyincao (Acanthaceae).

[plant morphology] guanyincao

Herbs perennial, up to 80 cm tall, with grayish white hairs. The stem has shallow grooves and long internodes. Leaves opposite, ovate, 3-10 cm long, 1.4-4 cm wide, apex acuminate, base cuneate, entire. Flowers solitary, reddish; bracts 2, elliptic; calyx 5-lobed, lobes lanceolate; corolla tube slender, about 2 times longer than lobes, lobes 2-labial, upper lip nearly entire, lower lip 3-lobed; stamens 2, inserted in corolla tube, filaments hairy, anthers 2-locular, filiform, 1-locular below; styles filiform, stigmas 2-lobed. Capsule elliptic, hairy; 4 seeds, black, ovoid and flat, with convex dots on the surface. The flowering period is from August to October.

On grass slopes or in the jungle. It is distributed in the Yangtze River Basin and all over the south of China.

[collection] harvest in summer and autumn, fresh or sun dried.

[pharmacological action] a yellowish brown volatile oil was obtained from the whole plant of Peristrophe bicalycalata nees in India. It has anti tuberculosis effect in vitro. But it has no bactericidal effect on many kinds of non acid fast bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, dysentery bacillus, typhoid bacillus, proteus, etc.

[nature and taste] Zhejiang folk herbs: "cool in nature, light in taste. "

[function indications] it is used to treat ulcers, carbuncle, urinary tract infection, rheumatoid arthritis pain and infantile convulsion.

[usage and dosage] oral: decoction, 3-5 yuan. External use: mash and apply or mash juice to drop the ear.

[prescription selection] ① for infantile convulsion: guanyincao for four to five yuan, fried in water.

② Treatment of urinary tract infection: Guanyin grass, plantain grass each five money, decoction.

③ Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: guanyincao, acanthopanax gracilis root bark, Polygonum cuspidatum root, Stephania tetrandra root, Lingxiao root each five money, decoction. (1) Zhejiang folk commonly used herbs is listed below.)