Chinese Herbs. John D. Keys
rounded on the back to one-half their height, carinate at top only. Glumelles corpulent; one oval-rounded on the back, carinate at the top, laterally compressed, venation faint near the base; the other two with ciliate carina. Stamens 3, ovary villous at top. Caryopsis free, oval or oblong villous at top, internal side furrowed. (Syn. Triticum sativum Lam.) The entire wheat kernel contains 13.8 % protein, 1.9% fat, 71.9% carbohydrate, vitamins A, B, E, and G, 1.6% ash.154 Wheat is prescribed by the Chinese as sedative and antipyretic in night sweats and insomnia. Dose, 15-30 gm. Infusions of the bran of wheat are given in diarrhea, hematuria, and high fever.153
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BELAMCANDA CHINENSIS DC. (Iridaceae) |
| Blackberry lily, leopard flower. A perennial herb with creeping rhizome. Stem erect, 0.6-1.2 m. tall. Leaves sword-shaped, shortly sheathed, 30 cm. long by 2-3 cm. wide. Inflorescence a dichotomous corymb, 20-40 cm. long; August-October; spathes multiflorous; pedicels articulate at the top; bracts scariose. Perianth rotate, in 6 unguiculate segments, light yellow spotted with red; stamens 3, shorter than the perianth; ovary 3-celled; stigmas 3. Fruit an obovoid capsule, 3-valved, 23-25 mm. long. Seeds blackish blue, globular, 5 mm. in diameter, glossy. Southern China, Japan, Korea, northern Vietnam, Laos. (Syn. B. punctata Moench., Ixia chinensis L., Pardanthus chinensis Van Houtte, Mo-raea chinensis Thunb.) The rhizomes are flat, divaricate, brownish, carrying scars of the resinous stem on the surface. The taste of the fresh drug is acid; it is poisonous. It contains shikanin; belamcandin C24H24O12; and iridin C24H28O13.113 The rhizome is employed as expectorant, antipyretic, stomachic, purgative; in throat and upper respiratory inflammations, pharyngitis, tonsillar abscess; in constipation, dyspepsia, asthma, halitosis. Dose, 3-6 gm. |
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JUNCUS EFFUSUS L. (Juncaceae) |
| Bog rush. A perennial herb 40-80 cm. high, green, the rhizomes running. Stem grass-like, glossy when fresh, becoming striate upon drying, easily broken, pith continuous, rarely hollow. Leaves reduced to basilar, reddish sheaths, not glossy. Flowers greenish, in a lateral, ramose panicle, more or less loose and diffuse, arranged on upper part of stem; perianth in acute lanceolate divisions; stamens 3. Capsule obovoid, truncate-flattened, without mammilla at top, greenish, slightly shorter than the perianth. Cosmopolitan. (Syn. J. communis Mey.) The pith is officinal. It contains arabinose and xylan.151 Used as diuretic and antiphlogistic. Dose, 5-10 gm. |
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ALLIUM ODORUM L. (Liliaceae) |
| Chinese chive. Bulbs clustered, conical, nearly cylindrical, with a fibrous, reticulate envelope. Stalk cylindrical or angular at top, leaved at the base, 15-50 cm. high. Leaves narrowly linear or linear-flat, carinate near the top, 1-6 mm. wide. Inflorescence umbelliferous, spathe scariose, whitish, shortly mucronate, eventually divided or lacerate, shorter than the pedicel. Pedicel filiform, angular, two to four times longer than the perianth, attaining 2 cm., 3 cm. during fructification. Perianth whitish, in 6 petaloid divisions. Stamens 6; ovary superior, nearly globular, trigonal. Fruit obovoid, obcordiform. China, Tibet, Japan, western Nepal. (Syn. A. uliginosum G. Don., A. tuberosum Roxb., A. chinense Max., A. tartaricum Ait.) The bulbs of the genus Allium contain a volatile oil consisting mainly of diallyl sulfide (C3H5)2S, upon which the bactericidal action depends. The oil has been shown to bestrongly effective against various microorganisms; it increases gastric and intestinal secretion.137 It acts as a tonic and carminative, and is supposed to have a special influence upon bronchial secretion.150 Large doses often produce gastric irritation, hemorrhoids, headache, and fever. The bulbs are employed as tonic and stomachic, and as bactericide in the treatment of amebic and bacillary dysentery, pertussis, tuberculosis, and cutaneous diseases. Dose, 5-10 gm. (Also used, A. scorodoprasum L., A. bakeri, A. fistulosum L.) |
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ALOE VERA L. (Liliaceae) |
| Curasao aloe, Barbados aloe. A stemless succulent plant. Leaves basal, in a rosette, grayish green, 30-60 cm. long, erect, juicy, margins spinose. Flowers yellow, 2.5 cm. long, tubular, the tip separated into spreading segments, in a dense nodding cluster on a stalk somewhat longer than the leaves. Fruit a triquetrous capsule. Africa, West Indies, India, Mediterranean. Aloes is the inspissated juice of the leaves. It occurs as irregular solidified pieces 2 cm. thick by 3 cm. long, of waxy texture, the surface dull, color varying from orange brown to blackish brown. The odor is strongly aromatic, the taste very bitter and pungent. It contains anthraquinone derivatives, especially aloins (18-25%), which yield emodin upon cleavage in the intestine. Doses of 10-30 mg. act as a bitter stomachic; 60-200 mg. as laxative; 300-1,000 mg. as purgative. It is moderately irritating, and has a tendency to cause griping; it does not lose its efficiency on continued use, and is especially useful in correcting constipative action of iron medication.152 Prescribed as laxative, stomachic, emmenagogue. |
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ANEMARRHENA ASPHODELOIDES Bunge. (Liliaceae) |
| An herbaceous plant with thick rhizome. Leaves basal, linear, 20 cm. long by 5 cm. wide. Stalk 1 m., simple, terminated by a long spiciform cluster of small flowers; October. Flowers purplish inside, yellowish on the exterior, odoriferous, opening in the evening. Pedicel very short; perianth pink, in 6 divisions in 2 rows, lightly united at the base, 3-veined, radiating. Stamens 5, with a very short filament; ovary 3-celled, style filiform. Fruit a hexagonal capsule; seeds 1-2, triangular, black. Northern China. The rhizomes occur as flat pieces 10 cm. long by 18 mm. thick, covered with reddish or yellowish erect hairs. The interior is yellow, fleshy. The odor is pleasant, the taste bitter. The rhizomes contain the saponin asphonin, which has been shown to be antipyretic.52 The drug is toxic in large doses, due to inhibition of the nerve centers. In small doses there is no action on the heart, while moderate doses weaken the contraction. A large amount of mucilage is present in the drug.140 Prescribed as antipyretic and expectorant in typhoid fever, scarlet fever, pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, pulmonary tuberculosis. Dose, 3-7 gm. Iron preparations are incompatible. |
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ASPARAGUS LUCIDUS Lindl. (Liliaceae) |
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Shiny asparagus. A much branching, creeping undershrub. Branches cylindrical, with numerous midribs barely projecting; spines reflected, 6 mm. and longer, thicker at the base. Branchlets slender, deeply furrowed, without spines; cladophylls flat, linear, barely arched, 15-25 mm. by 1.0-1.5 mm., finely acuminate, arranged in pairs, the median midrib apparent. Flowers polygamous, white, solitary or in pairs, rarely 3, in the axils of the cladophylls. Perianth in 6 linear-navicular segments, 3.5 mm. long by 6 mm. wide; stamens 6; ovary amphora-like; style very short; stigmas deltoid, extended. Fruit a white berry, globular, 7 mm. in diameter; seed globular, black, finely vermiculate, 4 mm. in diameter. Southern China, Japan. (Syn. A.falcatus Benth., A. insularis Hance.)
The roots are officinal. They occur as translucid, yellowish pieces |