Purple ginseng

Purple ginseng

HerbaSalviaeChinesnsis

Chinese sage herb

[alias] Shi Jian Chuan, Shi Da Chuan, and Yue Xia Hong.

[source] the whole plant of Salvia Chinensis Benth.

[plant morphology] annual herb, 20-70cm high. Stem square, simple or branched, surface purplish brown or green, pubescent. The leaves are opposite, all of them are single leaves or the lower part of the stem is triple compound leaves, ovate or ovate elliptic, 1.3-7 cm long, with round teeth on the edge. Cymes 6-flowered, integrated into pseudoracemes or panicles; calyx campanulate, purple; corolla bluish purple or purple, outer pubescent; stamens 2, filaments short, connective long; ovary 4-lobed, style bearing ovary base. Nutlets elliptic ovate, brown. The flowering period is from July to August and the fruiting period is from September to October.

It grows on hillside, roadside, forest edge and grass. It is mainly produced in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.

[harvest] harvest in autumn and dry in the sun.

[chemical constituents] the whole plant contains sterols, triterpenoids, amino acids and Protocatechuic aldehydes; the root contains stachyose.

[nature and taste] it is flat in nature, bitter and pungent in taste.

[indications] clearing away heat and toxin, promoting blood circulation, regulating qi and relieving pain. For acute and chronic hepatitis, epigastric and hypochondriac pain, damp heat, mastitis, emphysema.