The efficacy and function of mountain lettuce

For many Chinese people, traditional Chinese medicine is very trustworthy because it has a long history and few side effects. Wild lettuce is a common Chinese medicinal material. It has many benefits for human health. So how can we eat wild lettuce? Let’s learn about it below.

[Source] Medicinal material source: the whole herb of Meconopsis nephrolepis, a plant of the Poppy family.

[Original form] Nepalese Meconopsis is an annual herb, 0.6-1.2m tall. The whole body is covered with yellow-brown, long, soft hairs with many short branches. The taproot is about 9cm long and 2.5cm in diameter. The stem is stout, branched, cylindrical, sometimes with longitudinal ridges, with persistent leaf bases and densely tufted long hairs at the base. Basal leaves are densely clustered; petioles are up to 22 cm long; leaf blades vary in shape, up to 30 cm long and 17 cm wide, usually pinnate-lobed at the base and pinnate-lobed at the apex, with oblong lobes, acute or rounded at the apex, and notched-pinnate-lobed at the margins; lower basal leaves are the same shape as stem leaves and have short petioles; upper stem leaves are smaller and nearly sessile. The flower stem is branched, and the flowers are borne in the upper leaf axils, arranged in a racemose panicle: the pedicel is 3-10cm long; the flowers are drooping; the sepals are ovate and hairy on the outside; there are 4 petals, ovate or nearly round; red, purple or blue, rarely white; there are many stamens, the filaments are filiform, the same color as the petals or darker, the anthers are orange-yellow, oblong; the ovary is nearly spherical, ovate or elliptical, densely covered with light yellow or rusty long stiff hairs and fine hairs, the style is club-shaped, up to 1.2cm long when fruiting, the stigma is capitate, 5-8 lobed, and dark green. Capsule oblong to elliptic-oblong, 1.5-2.5cm long, 0.7-1.5cm in diameter, densely hairy, with 5-8 lobes split longitudinally from the tip. Seeds ovate to broadly elliptic-oblong, with seed coat densely covered with papillae. The flowering period is June-July, and the fruiting period is July-August.

[Habitat distribution] Ecological environment: Growing on grass slopes at an altitude of 2700-4000m.

[Chemical composition] The whole plant contains protopine, magnoflorine, cryptopine, coptisine, al-locryptopine, rhoeadine, papaverrubine E, papaverrubine D, corysamine, and 2-methyl-6-methoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-β-carboline.

【Nature and flavor】 Bitter; Cold

【Functions and indications】 Clears away heat, detoxifies and removes dampness. Mainly used for lung heat cough; damp-heat jaundice; gastroenteritis; damp-heat edema; headache; dysmenorrhea; leucorrhea, etc.

[Usage and Dosage] For oral use: decocted in water, 3-6g.

【Excerpt】 Chinese Materia Medica

The medicinal value of mountain lettuce introduced in the article is of great help to our lives. In fact, many physical illnesses can be treated with some Chinese medicinal materials such as wild lettuce. The profound Chinese medicine culture should continue to be passed on.