Dawei Yao is a relatively rare heat-clearing and detoxifying medicine. Due to its special growth environment, it is mostly wild and rarely cultivated. Dawei Yao is used as a whole herb and can be used after harvesting in the summer and autumn seasons.
【Morphological characteristics of Dawei Yao】
Dawei Yao, also known as Gouweicao or Quanchongcao, is an annual herb that grows to a height of 15-60cm. The roots are cylindrical and turn yellow-brown when dried. The stems are erect, stout, and branched, with rough hairs.
Leaves: The leaves are opposite or nearly opposite, with wrinkled elliptic or triangular-ovate leaflets measuring about 5-10cm in length.
Flowers: The calyx is green, and the corolla is pale blue-purple or white. There are 5 stamens, and the inflorescence is a unidirectional spike-like arrangement with small flowers densely growing on the upper side of the axis. The inflorescence gradually opens from the bottom to the top, with the tip bending outwards. The flowering period is from May to September.
Fruit: The fruit is a capsule formed by the fusion of two small follicles.
【Efficacy and function of Dawei Yao】
Dawei Yao has the effects of clearing heat, diuresis, reducing swelling, and detoxification. It is mainly used to treat pneumonia, empyema, sore throat, cough, bladder stones, convulsions in children, oral ulcers, and abscesses.
1. "Fujian Folk Herbs": "Diuretic, heat-clearing, abscess-dissolving, detoxifying. Used to treat fever with rash, pneumonia, and empyema."
2. "Nanning Medicinal Records": "Reduces swelling, detoxifies, disperses accumulations. Internally used to treat bladder stones. Branches and leaves are boiled with lime to make a decoction for fumigating and washing to treat snakebite sores."
3. "Folk Herbs in Southern Fujian": "Used to treat sore throat, cough, early-stage abscesses, and oral ulcers."
【Medicinal formulas using Dawei Yao】
1. To treat pneumonia, lung abscess, and empyema: Use 100g of fresh whole Dawei Yao herb. Boil it and mix with honey for consumption. Alternatively, mash and squeeze 100-200g of fresh whole Dawei Yao herb, and mix with honey for consumption.
2. To treat scrofula and abdominal pain: Use 50-100g of fresh whole Dawei Yao herb. Boil it and consume.
3. To treat testicular swelling and pain: Use 100g of fresh Dawei Yao root. Boil it in water and consume.
4. To treat convulsions in children: Use 12g of dried Dawei Yao root and 9g of dried Huangdancao. Add a little salt and stew in water for consumption.
5. To treat oral ulcers: Mash and squeeze the fresh leaves of Dawei Yao, and use the juice for gargling. Repeat 4-6 times a day.
