The efficacy and function of red leaf Litsea cubeba root

Red leaf Litsea cubeba root is a Chinese medicine that is relatively familiar to everyone. It has many benefits to our body. If we want to consume it correctly in our lives, we need to have some understanding of red leaf Litsea cubeba root. Let’s take a look at it below.

[Other names] Camphor root, fried strips

[Source] Medicinal material source: The root of Litsea cubeba of the Lauraceae family.

[Original form] Red-leaved Litsea cubeba is a deciduous shrub or small tree, 4-10m tall. Branchlets glabrous; terminal buds conical, scales glabrous or sparsely pubescent only on upper part. Leaves are alternate; petioles are 8-18mm long and glabrous; leaf blades are elliptical or lanceolate-elliptical, 3.5-7cm long, 1.5-3.5cm wide, gradually narrowed at both ends or obtuse at the tip, membranous, light green on the underside, and glabrous on both sides; young branches, leaf veins, and petioles are often red. Umbels are axillary; flowers are unisexual and dioecious; each inflorescence has 10-12 male flowers, which open before leaves or at the same time as leaves, pedicels densely covered with gray-yellow soft hairs, 6 petals, yellow, broadly elliptical, about 2mm long, obtuse at the apex, with fine hairs or nearly glabrous on the midrib outside, glabrous on the inside, 9 fertile stamens, short, glabrous, yellow filaments, small, glabrous, and reduced pistils, 2-lobed stigma; female flowers are smaller, perianth lobes are 2mm long, pistils are glabrous and 2mm long, and ovary is ovate. The fruit is spherical, black, about 5mm in diameter, with a stalk 0.8-1cm long, slightly thickened at the tip, and covered with sparse soft hairs. The flowering period is March-April, and the fruiting period is September-October.

[Habitat distribution] Ecological environment: Grown in gaps or on the edge of evergreen broad-leaved forests in valleys.

【Nature and flavor】 Spicy; warm

【Functions and indications】Dispel wind, relieve cold and relieve pain. Mainly used for colds, headaches, rheumatic bone pain, and injuries from falls

[Usage and Dosage] For oral use: decocted in water, 3-9g.

【Excerpt】 Chinese Materia Medica

After understanding some of the effects and common knowledge of the root of red leaf Litsea cubeba, I hope that everyone will use scientific methods in the process of consumption to make it play a greater role.