The whole plant of Chinese medicine Fudi Cai can be used as medicine. It has high medicinal value. When taken orally, it can invigorate the stomach and promote digestion, treat stomach pain and vomiting of blood. When used externally, it can promote blood circulation, relieve pain, and alleviate bruises and injuries.
Image of Fudi Cai
Fudi Cai is an annual herb, 5-30 centimeters tall. The stem is usually white at the base, slender, erect or clustered, with appressed fine hairs. The leaves are opposite, spoon-shaped, elliptical or lanceolate, 1-3 centimeters long, 5-20 millimeters wide, with rounded or sharp tips, narrow bases, and appressed coarse hairs on both sides.
The lower leaves have short stalks, while the upper leaves are stalkless. The inflorescence is terminal, slender, without bracts; the flowers usually grow on one side of the inflorescence, with stalks, 3-6 millimeters long; the calyx is 1-2.5 millimeters long, 5-lobed, with pointed lobes.
The corolla is blue, about 1.5 millimeters long, 5-lobed, with ovate lobes and rounded tips; there are 5 stamens; the ovary is deeply 4-lobed, with a linear style and a head-shaped stigma. The small achene is triangular in shape, with fine hairs, occasionally smooth, and with a small stalk. The flowering period is from May to June.
Fudi Cai is mainly used to treat enuresis, dysentery, back pain, heat swelling, and numbness of hands and feet.
① "Bie Lu": "It treats toxic swelling and stops frequent urination."
② Tao Hongjing: "It treats bedwetting."
③ "Yao Xing Lun": "Soaking hands and feet in water can treat enuresis."
④ Meng Shen: "It can be made into ash and salt to treat all kinds of sores, as well as pruritus all over the body like jujube-sized lumps caused by wind and fire. Apply the mixture to the affected area, changing it five or six times a day. It can also be eaten raw, cooked as a vegetable to nourish the body, remove fat and toxins. It can also be burned and applied to treat scrofula. It can also treat infantile dysentery. Take one liang of juice, mix it with honey and take it. It is very effective."
⑤ "Guizhou Medicinal Herbs": "It expels wind and relieves pain."
