The efficacy and function of hornberry

The hornbeam is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine. There are records of the hornbeam in ancient Chinese medical books. The hornbeam can treat many diseases and its effects are very comprehensive. We should make good use of it.

【English name】 Common Ceriops

[Other name] Fine-stamen mangrove

[Source] Medicinal material source: the whole plant of the Rhizophora japonica plant of the Rhizophoraceae family.

[Original morphology] Shrubs or small trees, 2-5m high, with often curved trunks, gray-brown bark with tiny cracks; there are many small supporting roots at the base of the stem; branches have obvious ring-shaped leaf marks. Simple leaves, alternate and opposite; petiole 1-3cm long; stipules 1-2.5cm long; leaf blade leathery, obovate to obovate-oblong, 5-12cm long, 2.5-4.5cm wide, obtuse or rounded at apex, narrow and long at base, entire; midrib convex on both sides, lateral veins inconspicuous, shiny. The cymes are often axillary on the nodes near the top of new branches, with stalks, about 2.5 cm long; the flowers are about 5.5 mm long; the calyx has 5 lobes, which are oblong and small, erect when flowering and curled when fruiting; the petals are 5-6, born at the base of a 10-12-lobed fleshy disk, white, oblong-obovate, about 3.5 mm long, slightly concave at the apex, with 3-4 tiny rod-shaped appendages; the stamens are 10-12, alternating in length, born between the disk lobes; the ovary is semi-inferior, 3-chambered, and the style is short. The fruit is clavate, 1-2 cm long, with a persistent calyx. 1 seed, germinates before the fruit leaves the mother tree, hypocotyl is long rod-shaped, slightly weak, 15-30cm long, slightly thick above the middle. The flowering period is autumn and winter, and the fruiting period is winter.

[Habitat distribution] Ecological environment: Growing in beach mangroves.

[Chemical composition] The bark of the hornbeam tree is rich in tannin[1]. The branches contain 1D-1-O-methyl-muco-inositos[2].

【Functions and indications】Detoxification and healing of sores; hemostasis. Mainly used for ulceration and bleeding caused by trauma

【Usage and Dosage】 For external use: appropriate amount, crush the fresh product and apply it; or decoct it in water for washing.

[Discussions by various scholars] "Xinhua Compendium of Materia Medica": The whole plant is used as an astringent, and the bark is boiled into juice. It can stop bleeding. It can also treat malignant ulcers. People on the African coast use the branches and leaves to boil juice as a substitute for quinine.

【Excerpt】 Chinese Materia Medica

Above we introduced what hornbeam is, and we also learned about the effects and functions of the traditional Chinese medicine hornbeam. We know that the effects of hornbeam are very powerful, and everyone can eat some hornbeam for health preservation.