Yuegua

Yuegua

(notes to the classic of Materia Medica)

[synonyms] vegetable melon, slightly melon (Yin Shan Zheng), raw melon (Ben Jing Feng Yuan), white melon (Ben Cao Qiu yuan).

[source] it is the fruit of Cucurbitaceae.

[plant morphology] Yuegua

Annual climbing or creeping herbs. The stem is angular, covered with many bristles, the leaves are alternate, the leaves are ovoid or nearly kidney shaped, about 7-12 cm long, slightly equal in width and length, palmate 3-5-lobed, the middle lobe is large and round, the apex is blunt, the base is heart-shaped, the edge is irregularly serrated, the leaves are hairy on both sides, the veins are palmate; the petiole is long, with bristles. Flowers unisexual; male flowers clustered with long stalks; calyx campanulate, 5-lobed, densely pilose; corolla yellow, 5-lobed, lobes elliptic, apex pointed; stamens 3, separated, inserted in calyx tube, filaments very short. Female flowers solitary, pedicel short; ovary inferior, ovate or oblong, style short, stigma 3, ovule many. The flesh of the bottle gourd is long and cylindrical, with smooth skin and long lines, green white or light green; the flesh is white or light green, juicy and crisp. The seeds are white and small. The flowering period is from June to July. The fruit period is from July to August.

He was born in the warm zone. It is widely cultivated in various parts of China.

[collection] the fruits are harvested when they are ripe in summer and autumn.

Sweet and cold.

① Tao Hongjing: "cold. "

② Qianjin Shizhi: "Gan, Ping, non-toxic. "

③ Kaibao materia medica: "sweet, cold. "

[Guijing] Ben Cao Qiu Zhen: "enter the intestines and stomach. "

[function indications] diuresis, detoxification. Treatment of fever, thirst, urine adverse.

① "Qianjin? Shizhi": "yichangwei. "

② Meng Shen: "quench thirst. "

③ "Materia medica collection": "it is beneficial to urinate, remove irritating heat, detoxify alcohol, vent heat, and apply ashes to treat aphthous ulcer and penile heat ulcer. "

[usage and dosage] oral: raw, cooked or pickled. External use: burn, deposit, grind and apply.

[should avoid] it should not be taken if the spleen and stomach are deficient and cold.

Meng Shen: "raw food is mostly cold and moving Qi, which makes people feel heartache. There are many knots under the umbilicus and various sores. And it's debilitating. You can't eat it when you are sick. "

[famous scholar's treatise] Ben Jing Feng Yuan: "Yue Gua is only good for detoxifying wine and making small profits. Burn ash to apply mouth sores and penile heat sores, so that they can detoxify heat and collect dampness. "