Stemona upright Stemona

Chinese Name: Baibu - Zhili Baibu

Class: root

Session siemonaroot

[alias]: Yao louyao, Yi Wo Hu.

[source]: tuberous roots of stemonassilifolia (Miq.).

[harvesting]: in spring and autumn, remove the fibrous roots, wash them, heat them in boiling water or steam them until there is no white heart, take them out and dry them in the sun.

[nature and taste]: the root tuber is spindle shaped, the upper end is slender, wrinkled and curved, 5-12cm in length and 0.5-1cm in diameter. The surface is yellowish white or yellowish brown, with irregular deep longitudinal groove and fine wrinkles. The cross section is flat, yellowish brown or yellowish white, the skin is wide, and the central column is flat. It's crispy. The taste is sweet and bitter. It is mild in nature, sweet and bitter in taste.

[plant morphology]: perennial herb, 30-60cm high. Stem erect, unbranched. Leaves usually 3-4 whorls, ovate or elliptic, 4-6cm long, 2-4cm wide, apex acuminate, main veins 3-5; petiole short or nearly sessile. Flowers are small, mostly in the lower part of the stem, between the axils of scaly leaves, with slender pedicels, erect or upward oblique; perianth segments are 4, light green; stamens are 4, connective dilated and protruding, with lanceolate appendages; ovary ovate, without style. Capsule oblate ovate. The flowering period is April to May and the fruiting period is July.

It grows under the bush. It is mainly produced in Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, Zhejiang and Shandong.

[chemical composition]: it contains sessilistemonine, hordorine, tubeostemonine and protostemonine.

[function indications]: moisten the lung, relieve cough and kill insects. For new long cough, lung cough, pertussis; external use for head lice, body lice, ecdysis, itching.