The efficacy and function of bell grass

We are all familiar with bellgrass. Bellgrass is not only edible but also has very high medicinal effects. Eating bellgrass regularly can have very good health and wellness effects.

[Alias] Wild peanut (Flora of China), pigweed, yellow-flowered wild lily (Illustrated Description of Major Plants of China, Leguminosae), horse bell (Collection of Southern Yunnan Materia Medica), bell grass, kidney grass (Sichuan Chinese Materia Medica), bell fruit (Illustrated Guide to Chinese Medicinal Plants), puppy bells, false ground beans, ground bells, wild pea, horse millet, wild edamame (Selected Chinese Herbal Medicines in Yunnan), bell grass, loud grass, and lotus stem (Handbook of Herbs in Jiangxi).

[Source] The whole herb or the whole herb with roots of the Leguminosae plant. Harvested in summer, sun-dried, or cut into sections and sun-dried.

[Original form] Perennial herb. The roots are more than 60 cm long. The stems and branches are erect or slightly ascending, usually with many branches; each part of the stems, branches and leaves has slightly long and expanded hairs, which are slightly rough and slightly silky. Simple leaves are alternate, rectangular, oblong or oblong, 2-5 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, hairy on both sides and densest on the veins below, obtuse or slightly pointed at the apex, narrow or slightly cuneate at the base, with inconspicuous lateral veins: almost no petiole; stipules lanceolate, 4-6 mm long, reflexed. Inflorescence racemes, terminal or axillary. There are 2 to 6 flowers; the calyx tube is very short, the sepals are lanceolate and unequal; the corolla is equal to or longer than the sepals, butterfly-shaped, yellow, the standard petal has claws, is round, the wing petals are obovate-oblong, shorter than the standard petal, the keel petal is equal in size to the wing petal, and bends inward; there are 10 stamens, monomeric, and 2-chambered anther; the ovary is linear, the style is long, and the stigma is slightly oblique. The pods swell into a bladder shape, 2.5 to 3 cm long. There are 20 to 30 seeds, kidney-shaped. Flowering period is from June to October.

[Habitat distribution] Growing on hillsides and wastelands. It is widely distributed in my country, and is more common in the southwest. It is produced in Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and other places.

[Properties] The whole plant is dried, with a round stem and yellow-brown hairs all over. The leaves are curled, mostly falling off, oval or ovate, and yellow-green. There are still pods at the branch ends, and most of the seeds have fallen off. For those with roots, the roots are long and winding, round, with few branches, slender fibrous roots, and the surface is earthy yellow.

[Chemical composition] The seeds of Croton rot contain bioalkalis such as crotonine, hypocrotonine, crotonine calyx, nilgyrine, and crotonine, as well as β-sitosterol, luteolin, vitexin, vitexin xyloside and lectins that can agglutinate human type A and type B red blood cells.

[Pharmacological action] Croton seeds and leaves contain a large amount of alkaloids, which can be absorbed through the intact skin and are mainly toxic to the liver, but will not cause anemia, decreased serum total protein, or prolonged plasma prothrombin time (rats). Feeding goats with leaves during the flowering period can cause poisoning, while the dried leaves lose their toxicity (for its anti-tumor effect, see the entry on "Wild Lily").

【Nature and flavor】 Bitter, slightly sour, cold.

【Meridian】 "Southern Yunnan Materia Medica": "enters the lungs."

【Functions and indications】It can nourish the lung qi, tonify the spleen and kidney, promote urination, and reduce swelling and toxins. Treat long-term cough with blood in sputum, tinnitus, deafness, nocturnal emission, chronic nephritis, cystitis, kidney stones, tonsillitis, lymphadenitis, carbuncle, and ulcer.

[Usage and Dosage] For oral use: decoct in water, 0.5-1 liang; or stew with meat. For external use: mash and apply.

[Additional prescription] ① For treating chronic cough with blood in sputum: roast bellflower with honey and boil it into a decoction. (Compendium of Materia Medica in Southern Yunnan)

[Remarks] In Sichuan area, the whole herb of plants of the same genus, such as Croton dahliae, wild lily (see the "Wild Lily" entry) and Croton dahliae stripe, can be used as medicine equally with this product.

【Excerpt】 《*Dictionary》

[Source] From "Southern Yunnan Materia Medica"

Bellgrass is a medicinal material that has existed for a long time. It is recorded in many Chinese medicine books, which shows that bellgrass does have good medicinal value.