Betel nut

Betel nut

(common folk herbs in Kunming)

[source] it is the inflorescence of the Fagaceae.

[plant morphology] white bark, also known as pig oak.

Evergreen trees, 5-20m high. Branchlets with brown hairs. Leaves alternate, leathery, elliptic lanceolate or rectangular elliptic, 6-10 cm long, 1.5-3 cm wide, apex acuminate or short tail pointed, base cuneate, entire, upper green bright, lower dense gray brown hairs, veins protruding below, lateral veins 9-12 pairs; petiole 8-20 mm long, dense brown hairs. Erect catkin, 24 cm long; flowers unisexual, monoecious; male flowers 3-clustered; female flowers dozens, small, 3-7 clusters. The inflorescence is 10-20 cm long and the fruit is dense; the nutlets are oblate, 1-1.6 cm in diameter and 0.9-1.5 cm in length, 3 / 4 of the fruit is covered by a cupule, the cupule is woody, the upper row is covered with tile like scales, covered with brownish yellow fine hairs, the bracts are triangular and the cupule is adnate, the top is separated from the cupule; the style is persistent. It blooms in spring.

It grows in warm and wet forest on hillside. It is distributed in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.

[collection] harvest from April to May.

[flavor] slightly bitter and astringent, warm.

[function indications] it can soothe Qi, eliminate food, strengthen stomach and kill insects. Treatment of food accumulation, film swelling, insect accumulation does not change.

[usage and dosage] oral: decoction, 3-5 yuan.