Ge Xun, Chinese medicine name. Annual or perennial parasitic herb, 10-15 centimeters tall. Ge Xun is used for clearing heat, detoxifying, and sobering up. It treats coughing, hemoptysis, hemorrhage, and hemorrhoids.
Image of Ge Xun
[Ge Xun Distribution Area] Distributed in Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places.
[Ge Xun Synonyms] Ge Ru, Ge Hua Cai ("Compendium of Materia Medica"), Ge Jun, Hong Xue Lian ("Sichuan Materia Medica"), Luo Si Qi ("Hunan Materia Medica").
[Ge Xun Source] The whole plant of the parasitic plant Ge Xun.
[Ge Xun Plant Morphology]
Ge Xun is an annual or perennial parasitic herb, 10-15 centimeters tall.
The stem is globular, thick and swollen, irregularly split, pale yellow-brown, with pale white star-shaped protrusions; the flower stem is stout and upright, red, emerging from the top of the tuber, 8-12 centimeters tall, and 1-1.5 centimeters in diameter.
The leaves are spirally alternate, degenerate, scale-like, ovate, broadly ovate or narrowly ovate, orange-yellow.
The flowers are unisexual, with separate male and female plants, arranged in terminal spike-like inflorescences; the flowers are small, numerous, deep red, densely packed on the surface of the axis; the male flowers have 4-6 petals, deeply divided, and 4-6 stamens.
The filaments of the flowers are fused into a monad; the female flowers have no perianth, one pistil, oval-shaped ovary with a stalk, 1 chamber, and 1 ovule. Nut. Flowering period is from June to July.
Parasitic on the roots of woody plants in the forest. Distributed in central and southern China.
[Ge Xun Collection] Collected in August.
[Ge Xun Chemical Composition] Dandelion sterol, β-amyrisinol, and palmitic acid were isolated from the lipid part of the rhizome and flowers.
Image of Ge Xun
[Properties] Bitter and sweet, cool.
① "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Bitter and sweet, non-toxic."
② "Additional Records of Compendium of Materia Medica": "Cool nature."
③ "Sichuan Materia Medica": "Astringent bitter taste, cold nature, non-toxic."
[Functions and Indications of Ge Xun] Clears heat, detoxifies, and sobering up. It treats wind-heat rash, lung heat coughing with hemoptysis, hemorrhage, and hemorrhoids.
① "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Soothes the liver, treats alcohol accumulation."
② "Additional Records of Compendium of Materia Medica": "Relieves muscle heat, disperses wind fire, and treats Yangming wind-heat rash."
③ "Sichuan Materia Medica": "Clears lung heat, detoxifies heat. Treats coughing with hemoptysis, hemorrhage, and painful hemorrhoids."
④ "Hunan Materia Medica": "Refers to furuncle on the head, swelling of children's penis, crush and apply to the affected area."
[Dosage and Administration of Ge Xun] Oral: Decoction, 9-18 grams; or stewed with meat. External use: Crush and apply.
[Selected Prescription of Ge Xun] ① Treats lung heat coughing with hemoptysis: Ge Xun, Lung Jing Cao, Lu Xian Cao, Yan Bai Cai, Bai Mao Gen, Gou Di Ya Gen. Stewed with meat and taken orally. ("Sichuan Materia Medica")
② Treats intestinal wind and bloody stool: Ge Xun, Lao Jun Xu, Zong Shu Gen. Decoct and remove the residue, take the liquid and stew with Huang Shan. ("Sichuan Materia Medica")
