The efficacy and function of azalea

As for azalea, I think some people may have heard of it or even taken it. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t heard of it. Next, I will introduce azalea to you.

[Other names] Red azalea (Records of Luoyang Flowers and Trees), mountain azalea, mountain pomegranate, azalea (Compendium of Materia Medica), gorgeous azalea (Classification of Herbal Properties), gorgeous mountain flower, mountain return (Guizhou Folk Prescriptions and Medicines Collection), full mountain azalea, Qingming flower (Jiangxi Folk Herbal Prescriptions), red azalea, lantern red flower, camellia (Zhejiang Folk Commonly Used Herbs), insect and bird flower, primrose (Jiangxi Herbal Medicine), oriental azalea (Yantai Medicine 1: 23, 1971).

[Source] The flower or fruit of Rhododendron, a plant of the Ericaceae family. Harvest when in bloom from April to May and sun-dry.

[Original form] Evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub, up to 3 meters tall. The branches are thin and numerous, densely covered with yellow or brown flat, stiff hairs. The leaves are ovate-elliptical or obovate, 2-6 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, with pointed apex and cuneate base, sparsely covered with stiff hairs on the surface and densely covered with brown fine hairs on the surface, with more on the veins. 2 to 6 flowers are clustered at the end of branches; sepals are 5, elliptic-ovate, 2 to 4 mm long, densely covered with brown stiff hairs, persistent; corolla is rose to light red, broadly funnel-shaped, about 4 to 5 cm in diameter, lobes are nearly obovate, the upper 1 petal and the proximal 2 petals have dark red spots; stamens are 7 to 10, with sparse fine hairs on the lower part of the filaments; anthers are purple; ovary is oval, densely covered with stiff hairs, and the stigma is capitate. The capsule is oval, 5 to 8 mm long, and densely covered with stiff hairs. Flowering period is April. The fruit heat period is October.

[Habitat distribution] Grown on hillsides or plains, in forests and beside rocks. Distributed in Henan, Hubei and other places south of the Yangtze River.

[Chemical composition] The flowers contain anthocyanins and flavonols, both of which are flower pigments. The most common red pigments (anthocyanins) are cyanidin 3-glucoside and cyanidin 3,5-diglucoside. Generally these two pigments exist at the same time. The anthocyanins of purple flowers contain malvaceae 3,5-diglucoside. The most common flavonol is rhododendron flavonoids 3-rhamnosyl glucoside. The flavonols of purple flowers also contain myricetin 5-methyl ether.

[Pharmacological action] Intraperitoneal injection of azalea decoction has an antitussive effect on mice (ammonia spray-induced cough method). Its ethyl acetate extract, chloroform extract and its mother liquor, and the separated crystals A and B (flavonoid compounds) also have an antitussive effect. The decoction had an expectorant effect when administered orally to mice (phenol red method). Intraperitoneal injection of the decoction into guinea pigs had no dry wheezing effect (histamine spray method).

【Nature and flavor】Sour, sweet, warm.

【Functions and indications】 Regulates blood, regulates menstruation, and eliminates rheumatism. Treat irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, metrorrhagia, bruises, rheumatic pain, hematemesis and epistaxis.

[Usage and Dosage] For internal use: Flower: decocted in water, 0.5-1 liang; Fruit: grind into powder, 3-5 fen.

[Additional prescription] ① Treat menstrual disorders, amenorrhea and emaciation: 2 liang of Rhododendron. Decoction in water.

【Excerpt】 《*Dictionary》

[Source] From "Compendium of Materia Medica".

The above is a detailed introduction to azalea. Since it is a Chinese medicinal material, we can eat it with confidence. Azalea has a very good effect on all aspects of the human body.