Glutinous Rice Vine is the name of a traditional Chinese medicine. It is the dried root and whole plant of the perennial herbaceous plant Glutinous Rice Ball. It can be boiled and taken orally, stewed with meat, or applied topically. It has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, invigorating the spleen, and stopping bleeding.
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Morphological characteristics of Glutinous Rice Vine
The base of the stem is prostrate, reaching about 1 meter in length, usually branching, and has short soft hairs.
The leaves are opposite; they have short petioles or no petioles; leaf blades are narrowly ovate, lanceolate, or ovate, 3-11.5 cm long and 1.2-2.5 cm wide, gradually pointed or long acuminate at the apex, shallowly cordate at the base, entire, with no or sparsely short hairs, and slightly rough on the upper surface; basal veins are 3.
The flowers are small, monoecious with male and female flowers on the same plant, clustered in the leaf axils, pale green; male flowers have slender stalks, flower buds are nearly turbinate, truncate on the top, with 5 perianth segments about 2 mm long, and 5 stamens opposite;
Female flowers are nearly sessile, perianth fused into a tubular shape, with white short hairs on the upper edge, and a filiform style with a deciduous stigma inside.
The achene is ovate, about 1 mm long, sharply pointed at the apex, dark green or black, shiny, with about 10 fine longitudinal ribs. The flowering period is from August to September, and the fruiting period is from September to October.
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Selected formulas for medicinal use of Glutinous Rice Vine
①Treatment of damp-heat leukorrhea: 1-2 taels of fresh Glutinous Rice Vine, decocted and taken orally. (Fujian Chinese Herbal Medicine)
②Treatment of pediatric food accumulation and distension: 1 tael of Glutinous Rice Vine root, decocted and taken. (Guizhou Chinese Herbal Medicine)
③Treatment of vascular neurogenic edema: fresh Glutinous Rice Ball root, mashed with salt and applied topically, change the dressing every four to six hours. (Selected Survey Data of Single Formula)
④Treatment of abscesses and boils: suitable amount of mashed Glutinous Rice Vine, for early stage, add a little salt and apply; for already suppurated, add brown sugar and apply. (Guangxi Chinese Herbal Medicine)
⑤Treatment of chronic ulcers on the lower limbs: suitable amounts of mashed Glutinous Rice Vine, Triangular Bean, and Eucalyptus leaves. Apply to the affected area. (Guangxi Chinese Herbal Medicine)
⑥Treatment of oral ulcers: mash fresh Glutinous Rice Vine leaves and apply to the affected area. (Fujian Chinese Herbal Medicine)
⑦Treatment of dysentery and dysmenorrhea: 2-3 qian of Glutinous Rice Grass, decocted and taken orally. (Yunnan Chinese Herbal Medicine)
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Planting techniques for Glutinous Rice Vine
Seeds are used for propagation. In Sichuan, they are sown from March to April.
After land preparation, open a 1.3m wide bed, dig holes at a row spacing of about 26cm, and a depth of about 7cm. The bottom of the hole should be flat.
After applying animal and poultry manure, use 7.5kg of seeds per hectare, mix them with straw ash and animal and poultry manure, and spread them in the hole.
Field management. When the seedlings are 7-10cm tall, thin and supplement the seedlings, with 4-5 seedlings per hole, and weed and apply fertilizer once.
Remove weeds and apply fertilizer again in June, August, and November. After that, remove weeds and apply fertilizer twice a year, when the seedlings emerge in spring and in May and November. Animal and poultry manure is the main fertilizer in spring and summer, and miscellaneous organic fertilizer is applied in winter.
Glutinous Rice Vine is a cool and swelling medicinal material, so whether it is fresh Glutinous Rice Vine applied externally or Glutinous Rice Vine boiled as a medicinal material, its cool and swelling effects can be significant.
Because Glutinous Rice Vine mostly grows in humid areas and can only be planted in provinces south of the Yangtze River, the planting area for Glutinous Rice Vine is important. Generally, it is necessary to collect mature Glutinous Rice Vine seeds.
However, the technical aspects of planting Glutinous Rice Vine must be well understood. The timing and spacing of seed propagation must be well controlled, and the important field management techniques for Glutinous Rice Vine planting must be in place.
