The efficacy and function of Ficus pumila

Ficus litchi can not only supplement the body's nutritional elements, but also help regulate various functions of the body. It also has high medicinal value. Today, I will take you to learn about Ficus litchi.

[Other names] Magnolia vine (Rihuazi Materia Medica), Bi'e (Question Materia Medica), Schizonepeta (Plant Names), papaya vine, bubble tree, cake bubble tree, wall stone tiger, wood wall lotus (Chinese Tree Taxonomy), creeper, wind does not move (Chinese Medicinal Plants), Pengfeng vine (Fujian Folk Herbs), stone dragon vine (Chinese Materia Medica), ivy (Guangxi Chinese Materia Medica), Schizonepeta, blood-boosting king, bone-chasing wind, rock-climbing wind (Hunan Materia Medica), wall foot column, red wall cover, chimney pier (Mindong Materia Medica), snail cover, creeper, drum vine (Guangdong Chinese Medicine II), stone stretch vine (Jiangxi Folk Herbal Prescriptions), Xueli Luoshi vine, Laoya Mantou vine (Guangzhou Army Commonly Used Chinese Herbal Medicine Manual), Liangfen vine, climbing vine, cow dung vine (Jiangxi Herbal Medicine)

[Source] The stems and leaves of the Ficus microcarpa plant of the Moraceae family. From April to June, take stems and branches with leaves, dry them in the sun, and remove aerial roots.

[Original form] Evergreen climbing shrub with latex. The stem is gray-brown and much-branched; the young branches have fine soft hairs, are creeping when young, and have roots at the nodes. The leaves of sterile young branches are small, alternate, ovate, 0.6-2.5 cm long, oblique at the base, and nearly sessile; when grown up, the branches are hard and upright, the leaves are large and thick, and the petiole is 0.5-1.5 cm long; the stipules are ovate-triangular, 0.5-1 cm long, covered with fine soft hairs on the outside, and leathery; the leaf blade is elliptic-quadrangular, 2.5-10 cm long, 1.5-4 cm wide, obtuse at the apex, rounded or slightly cordate at the base, entire, nearly glabrous above, densely covered with fine soft hairs below, and the lateral veins and reticulate veins are raised below, forming a small honeycomb shape. Inflorescence; flowers are unisexual, with many small flowers, borne on the inner wall of the fleshy receptacle, which is solitary in the leaf axil and has a short petiole; the male receptacle is oblong, up to 5 cm long and 3 cm in diameter; the female receptacle is slightly larger, obovate, and purple-green in surface. The achenes are small, brown in color, with a membranous skin and a mucilage-rich surface. Flowering period is from May to June. The fruit of the genus Hierophantha matures in October.

[Habitat distribution] It grows wild among trees on hillsides or on broken walls. Distributed in Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and other places. It is mainly produced in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong. In addition, it is also produced in Guizhou, Jiangxi, Hubei, Guangdong, Anhui and other places.

[Properties] The dry stems and branches are cylindrical, slender and curved, 1 to 4 mm in diameter, brown in color on the surface, often with scattered climbing roots or dot-like protruding root marks; the texture is tough or brittle, the broken surface is yellow or yellowish brown, the pith is dot-shaped, yellowish-white, and biased to one side. The leaves on the stems and branches are alternate, elliptical, obtuse at the tip, usually folded, brown-green or yellowish brown, and leathery. Weak smell, bland taste. The best ones are those with thin, even stems and leaves.

[Chemical composition] Five kinds of crystals were separated from the ethanol extract of this plant: meso-inositol, rutin, β-sitosterol, taraxacyl alcohol acetate and β-amyrin acetate. This plant has certain anti-tumor effects.

【Nature and flavor】 Sour, flat.

【Functions and indications】 Dispel wind, promote dampness, promote blood circulation and detoxify. It is used to treat rheumatism, diarrhea, gonorrhea, bruises, carbuncles and furunculosis.

[Usage and Dosage] For internal use: decoct in water, 3-5 qian (2-3 liang for fresh product); mash into juice, soak in wine or grind into powder. For external use; mash the juice and apply it or decoct it in water for fumigation and washing.

[Additional prescription] ① For rheumatic pain, and discomfort in the joints of hands and feet: decocted and taken orally with 3 to 5 qian of Pseudobulbus Fructus Picrorhizome. (Common Chinese Herbal Medicines in Shanghai)

[Remarks] The sterile young stems of this product are used as Trachelospermum jasminoides in some areas. See the entry for Trachelospermum officinale.

【Excerpt】 《*Dictionary》

[Source] From "Supplement to Compendium of Materia Medica".

The above only introduces some of the effects and functions of Ficus microcarpa. In fact, it has other effects, which I will not introduce here one by one. If you are interested, you can take a look at the effects and matters recorded in medical books.