The efficacy and function of Xixiancao

Xixiancao is one of the common traditional Chinese medicines in our country. It has a very long history of medicinal use and is recorded in many ancient medical books. Xixiancao has good edible and medicinal value. Let’s take a look.

[Other names] Siegesbeckia sibiricum, Herba Siegesbeckiae, Wild Suzi, Fragrant Suzi

[Source] Medicinal material source: the whole herb with roots of the Lamiaceae plant.

[Original form] Lifa rough sedge, perennial herb, 60-150cm tall. The roots are thick. The stem is stout, quadrangular, with grooves and stripes, densely covered with short stellate hairs on the upper part, sparsely covered with stellate sparse hairs on the lower part, and branched. The petiole of the lower stem leaf is 7-13cm long; the leaf blade is cordate or broadly ovate, ovate at the top, 7-18cm long, 6-15cm wide, with an acute or caudate-acuminate apex, a cordate to rounded base, and a callose margin, sparsely stellate with short soft hairs and simple hairs above, and densely stellate with short soft hairs below; the bracts are ovate-lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, much longer than the inflorescence, with a petiole of 0.5-5.5cm long. The cyme has a peduncle; the bracts are leaf-like, linear-lanceolate, usually 4-13mm long and 1.5-5mm wide; the calyx is tubular, covered with gray star-shaped short felt hairs on the outside, and the calyx has 5 teeth; the corolla is white or yellow, the crown brim is two-lipped, the upper lip has fringed edges, the inner surface is bearded, the lower lip is 3-circularly divided, and the lateral lobes are smaller; the stamens are 4, didyna, and the filaments are covered with hairs, and the posterior pair of filaments have hooked reflexed appendages above the hair ring; the tip of the style is unequally 2 short lobes. Nutlets glabrous.

[Habitat distribution] Ecological environment: Grown on grassland at an altitude of about 3500m.

【Nature and flavor】 Spicy; bitter; slightly warm

【Channel】 Liver; dried

【Functions and indications】 Dispel wind and resolve phlegm; dredge meridians and stop spasms; remove dampness and detoxify. It is used for stroke, phlegm congestion, hemiplegia, strabismus, paralysis, numbness, paralysis, insensitivity, rheumatism, bone pain, cough with phlegm, asthma, leprosy, vitiligo, and leucorrhea.

[Usage and Dosage] For oral use: decocted in water, 3-9g; or made into pills or powder. For external use: apply the medicine in known amount or decoct it into water for washing.

【Excerpt】 Chinese Materia Medica

From the above we can see that the Chinese medicine Herba Siegesbeckiae has very high medicinal value, so we can consider using Herba Siegesbeckiae in our lives.