Douban Green is a perennial evergreen herbaceous plant in the Piperaceae family. It is native to the West Indies, Panama, and northern South America, and has been introduced to China, where it is commonly used as a potted decorative plant due to its bright gloss and natural green color. This plant can also be used medicinally. According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, it can dispel wind and dampness, stop coughing, and eliminate phlegm.
Original Form:
1. Douban Green is an annual clustered herbaceous plant, 10-30cm tall. The stem is fleshy, with creeping base and many branches. The lower part of the stem often produces adventitious roots, and there are coarse longitudinal ridges between the nodes. The leaves are dense, with 3-4 whorls, nearly equal in size. The leaf stalk is short, 1-2mm long, hairless or covered with short soft hairs. The leaf blade is elliptical or nearly circular, 9-12mm long, 5-9mm wide, with blunt or round ends, hairless or sparsely hairy when young, and has 3 faint and slender veins. The leaf is fleshy, with transparent glandular spots, turning pale yellow and wrinkled when dry. The spike-like inflorescence is solitary, terminal or axillary, 2-4.5cm long. The peduncle is slightly shorter and thinner than the inflorescence axis, sparsely hairy or nearly hairless, while the inflorescence axis is densely hairy. The bracts are nearly circular, with a short stalk and shield-shaped. The flowers are small, bisexual, without perianth, and grow together with the bracts in the depression of the inflorescence axis. There are 2 stamens, with short filaments and nearly elliptical anthers. The ovary is ovoid, with 1 chamber, and the stigma is terminal, nearly capitate, covered with short soft hairs. The berry is ovoid and spherical, with a pointed tip, about 1mm long. It flowers from April to May and September to October.
2. Hairy-leaved Douban Green differs from Douban Green in that the plant is very small, with inflorescences only 3-5cm long. The stem and branches are densely covered with stiff hairs. The leaves are smaller, rhomboid-elliptic, 6-8mm long, 5-6mm wide, and both sides are densely covered with stiff hairs, especially on the back. The inflorescence is short, 7-11mm long during the flowering period, and the peduncle is densely covered with stiff hairs. It flowers from April to September.
Ecological Environment:
1. Grows in the understory of wetlands or in shady and damp places among rocks and crevices, sometimes on tree trunks.
2. Grows on rocks or trees along rivers.
Distribution:
1. Distributed in Fujian, Taiwan, Hainan, Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, and other regions.
2. Distributed in Guizhou and Yunnan.
Identification: The stem surface has coarse longitudinal ridges, and there are adventitious roots on the lower nodes. The leaves are fleshy, wrinkled when dry, and become broadly elliptical or nearly circular when flattened, resembling a douban (a type of bean paste used in Chinese cuisine). They are 8-12mm long and 4-8mm wide, pale yellow on the surface, with transparent glandular spots, and the veins are not very distinct. The leaf stalk is very short. There are often spike-like inflorescences at the top of the stem or in the leaf axils, and the inflorescence axis is densely covered with hairy fibers. It has a weak aroma and a mild taste.
Properties and Tastes: Pungent, bitter, slightly warm.
① "Plant Names and Illustrations": "Cold in nature."
② "Yunnan Medicinal Plants": "Mild, slightly cold."
Meridians: Lung, liver, spleen.
Usage and Dosage: Internal use: decoction, 10-15g; soaking in alcohol or making pills or powder. External use: appropriate amount, apply fresh, or apply mashed juice, can also be decocted and used for fumigation and washing.
