The efficacy and function of chicken foot thorns

Chicken foot thorn is one of the common traditional Chinese medicines in our country. The medicinal history of chicken foot thorn is very long. There are records of chicken foot thorn in many ancient medical books. Chicken foot thorn has good edible value and medicinal value. Let’s take a look.

[Other names] Scutellaria baicalensis, Berberis thorny, three needles, Yameici (Guizhou Folk Prescriptions and Medicines Collection), Coptis chinensis (Guiyang Folk Medicinal Herbs).

[Source] It is the root of Berberis arborescens, a plant of the Berberidaceae family . It can be harvested all year round. Wash and dry.

[Original form] Evergreen or deciduous shrub, about 2 meters high. The twigs have sunken grooves, are yellow or reddish-yellow when young, and have wart-like protrusions; they turn gray after the second year, the cork of old stems is gray-yellow, with longitudinal textures, and yellow inside; the spines are trident-shaped, thick, about 1 to 2 cm long, and about 1 to 2 mm thick at the base. The leaves are hard, elliptic-obovate, 2-5.5 cm long, 0.8-1.5 cm wide, pointed or blunt at the tip, with thorns, and 2-8 thorn-like fine teeth on the edge. They are slightly shiny on the upper side, white or grayish yellow with white powder on the lower side, and gradually narrow at the base into a petiole about 8 mm long, or almost sessile. The racemes are axillary and drooping, with pedicels 5 to 12 mm long; 6 sepals, with 2 to 3 bracts at the bottom; 6 petals, bright yellow, smaller than sepals, with 2 nectaries at the base; 6 stamens, sensitive, with bilobed anthers; 1 pistil, ovary oval, stigma sessile. The berry is oval or oblong-ovate, about 6 to 10 mm long, with white powder, and the style is persistent. Flowering period: spring.

[Habitat distribution] Distributed in Anhui, Jiangxi, Guizhou and other places.

[Properties] The root is dry, very thick, cylindrical, slightly curved, earthy brown in appearance, with fine longitudinal wrinkles, and surrounded by numerous hard fibrous roots. The cross section is white-yellow and the wood is hard.

[Properties and flavors] "Guiyang Folk Herbs": "bitter, cold, non-toxic."

【Functions and indications】 Clears away heat and detoxifies. Treat diarrhea, dysentery, jaundice due to damp heat, red and swollen eyes, and sores.

[Usage and Dosage] For oral use: decocted in water, 3 to 5 qian (0.5 to 1 liang for fresh ones). For external use: decoct in water for washing, grind into powder and sprinkle or apply on affected area.

[Additional prescription] ① Treat dysentery: three needles and five cents, Potentilla herb and five cents, Scutellaria baicalensis and one cent. Decoction in water and take three times a day. (Guizhou "Handbook of Commonly Used Folk Herbs")

【Excerpt】 《*Dictionary》

[Source] From "Guiyang Folk Herbs".

In the above article, we analyzed chicken foot thorns and knew that the functions and effects of chicken foot thorns are very wide. As long as we know more about the medicinal properties of traditional Chinese medicine, we will not panic when encountering diseases.