Baogai grass, also known as "bone-setting grass" in folk medicine, has the functions of dispelling wind, promoting blood circulation, reducing swelling, and relieving pain. So what does the flower of Baogai grass look like?
Image of Baogai grass
[Functions and Indications of Baogai Grass]
Baogai grass is used to treat pain in the muscles and bones, numbness in the limbs, bruises, and scrofula.
① "Dian Nan Ben Cao": "Treats pain in the muscles and bones, numbness in the hands and feet. Dispel the wind that wanders throughout the body, disperse scrofula and nodules in the hands and feet. Treat bruises and bone fractures. Stop nasal leakage. Treat red and swollen pain caused by phlegm-fire."
② "Zhi Wu Ming Shi Tu Kao": "Nourishes the muscles, activates blood circulation, and relieves pain throughout the body."
[What Does the Flower of Baogai Grass Look Like?]
The flower of Baogai grass is in umbel inflorescence, with lanceolate diamond-shaped bracts and hairy edges.
The calyx is tubular and covered with long white straight hairs on the outside.
Image of Baogai grass
The corolla is purple-red in color. The upper lip is densely covered with short purple-red hairs, and the rest is covered with fine hairs. The corolla tube is slender, the upper lip is straight and elongated, and the lower lip is 3-lobed with a deep concave at the tip. The stigma is shallowly 2-lobed and unequal.
The floral disc is cup-shaped with round teeth. The small nut is oblong and triangular, pale grayish-yellow in color.
[Applications of Baogai Grass in Traditional Chinese Medicine]
1. For fractures and injuries from falls: Baogai grass 2 liang, purple kudzu root 1 liang (filed), dendrobium 1 liang (root removed and filed), morinda officinalis 1 (or 2) liang, clove 1 liang, Ligusticum striatum 1 liang (wrapped in dough, steamed until cooked). Prepare the medicine and grind it into coarse powder. Take two qian of the powder with warm wine, regardless of the time. (From "Sheng Hui Fang" Baogai Grass Powder for Bone-setting)
2. For bruises and injuries, foot injuries, and red swelling that prevents walking: Baogai grass, mallow root, and thistle. Grind them together with egg white and honey, apply to the affected area, change it every night, and if the pain persists, add onion and ginger.
3. For phlegm-fire, red and swollen pain in the hands and feet: Baogai grass 5 qian, chicken foot thorn root 2 qian, Coptis chinensis 2 qian. Grind them together, burn with alcohol, and apply to the affected area three times. After the swelling subsides and the pain stops, add Platycodon grandiflorum, Angelica dahurica, and Ligusticum chuanxiong, remove Coptis chinensis and chicken foot thorn root, and boil in water and wine for three times.
4. For women with lumps in both legs, resembling peaches or plums, red and swollen and hardened: Baogai grass 3 qian. Boil in water, add wine, and take it. If the condition worsens, add Weilingxian, Saposhnikovia divaricata, and Centipeda minima, and take it three times. (The following formulas are from "Dian Nan Ben Cao")
5. For facial paralysis and hemiplegia: Baogai grass, Saposhnikovia divaricata, Uncaria rhynchophylla, and Herba Taraxaci. Boil in water, and take half with water and half with alcohol.
