Bamboo leaf banana

Bamboo leaf banana

(selected Chinese herbal medicines from Simao, Yunnan)

[synonym] Ge Yan (Dai name).

[source] it is the rhizome of Musa edulis.

[plant morphology] banana

Subshrub like erect herb, 1-2m high. The stem is branched with a tongue like bract at the base of the branch, 2-3 cm long. The leaves are oval in shape, 10-12 cm long, 4-5 cm wide, entire, smooth, with obvious pinnate veins, a sharp tip at the apex, and leaf sheath embracing the stem. Flowers in pairs, terminal, open panicle; bracts long, 2-row; bracteoles glandular; sepals short, separated; petals narrow, connate; stamen tube cylindrical, pseudostamen obovate, unequal, petal shaped, anther 1-locular, born on the edge of 1-pseudostamen; ovary inferior, 3-locular, with 1 ovule per locule, lower part of style connate with stamen tube, upper part separated, hooked. Fruit smooth, not dehiscent.

It grows in the shade and wet place of dense forest or the edge of bamboo forest. It is distributed in Yunnan, Guangdong and Taiwan.

[collection] it can be harvested all year round, sliced and dried in the sun.

Light and cool.

Functions and indications: clearing away heat and toxin, relieving cough and asthma, anti inflammation and sterilization. Treatment of tuberculosis, trachea, bronchitis, asthma, high fever. Children measles with pneumonia, cold fever, all kinds of skin diseases.

[usage and dosage] oral administration: decoction, 2-4 yuan; or grinding powder. External use: tamping.