The efficacy and function of clam orchid

Clam orchid is a medicinal material, which is quite common in life. We can eat clam orchid appropriately. Since many people don’t know much about clam orchid, let’s take a look at it together.

【English name】 Oyster Rhoeo

[Other names] Clam flower, purple evergreen flower, lotus orchid, clam orchid clothes, water chestnut flower, red clam orchid, state troops

[Source] Medicinal material source: The flower of Dieffenbachia odorifera of the Commelinaceae family.

[Original form] Purple Dieffenbachia is a perennial herb, 50cm tall. The stem is thick and fleshy. The nodes are dense and unbranched. Leaves are basal, densely imbricate, and sessile; leaf blades are lanceolate or ligulate-lanceolate, 10-30cm long, 2-6cm wide, acuminate at the apex, and expanded into a sheath-like clasping stem at the base, dark green above and purple below. The cyme grows at the base of the leaves, most of it hidden inside the leaves; there are 2 bracts, which are clam-shell-shaped, large and flat, 3-4cm long, lavender, surrounding the inflorescence, with many small white flowers; there are 3 sepals, which are oblong-lanceolate, separate, and petal-shaped; there are 3 petals, which are separate and oval; there are 6 stamens, with filaments covered with long hairs; there are 3 chambers of the ovary. Capsule 2-3-loculed, dehiscent. Flowering period is from May to July.

[Habitat distribution] Ecological environment: Artificially cultivated in gardens and flower beds.

[Cultivation] Biological characteristics: It prefers warm and humid climate and semi-shaded environment and is not cold-resistant. It is advisable to choose fertile, loose, well-drained sandy loam for cultivation. The cultivation techniques often use cuttings and division propagation methods. Cutting propagation: In spring, dig holes with a row spacing of 50cm×40cm, and cut the main stem of the mother plant with a length of 15-20cm for planting. Reproduction by division: In spring, dig up the mother plant and divide it into several divisions with roots. Plant them in holes with a row spacing of 50cm×40cm, and plant one division in each hole.

[Chemical composition] Anthers contain polysaccharides, acid polysaccharides, starch, callose, and pectins.

【Nature and flavor】 sweet; cool; bland

【Functions and indications】 Clears the lungs and resolves phlegm; cools the blood and stops bleeding; detoxifies and stops dysentery. Mainly used for lung heat, cough and asthma; whooping cough; hemoptysis; epistaxis; bloody diarrhea; blood in stool; scrofula

[Usage and Dosage] For oral use: decoction, 10-15g.

[Additional prescription] For treating cold and cough, coughing up blood in sputum, whooping cough, epistaxis, and bacillary dysentery: 20 to 30 dried clam flowers. Decoction in water. (Guangzhou Army "Handbook of Commonly Used Chinese Herbal Medicines")

[Discussions by various scholars] 1. "Records of Medicinal Herbs in Lingnan": It can be used to treat bloody stool and hemoptysis by boiling it with pork into a decoction. To treat bloody dysentery, boil it in water and drink it.

【Excerpt】 Chinese Materia Medica

Nowadays, people's life pressure is constantly increasing, which makes our bodies often in a state of fatigue. As a traditional Chinese medicine, clam orchid has a certain regulating effect on the body. I hope it will be helpful to everyone.