According to traditional Chinese medicine, wild sorghum has the effects of promoting blood circulation, relieving blood stasis, dispelling wind and dampness, and relieving pain. It is commonly used to treat rheumatism, sprains, stomach pain, and yellow water sores. Wild sorghum is the rhizome or whole plant of the plant Xipanluoxinfu, a member of the Acanthaceae family. It often grows by the roadside and is difficult to be noticed by people, but its vitality is extremely tenacious.
Wild sorghum is now used in modern clinical practice to treat measles, indigestion, gastrointestinal bleeding, prolapsed hemorrhoids, and menstrual disorders.
Due to the fact that wild sorghum and red Asarum both belong to the Xipanluoxinfu genus and have the effects of promoting blood circulation, relieving pain, and dispelling blood stasis, they are often compared by people.
1. Wild Sorghum
The rhizome of wild sorghum is cylindrical, slightly curved, about 11cm long, and about 2cm in diameter. The surface is dark brown with numerous wart-like protrusions at the base, and there are numerous root marks and remaining fine roots;
The upper stem base is densely covered with brown scales and long soft hairs. The texture is hard, not easy to break, the section is powdery, and it is reddish-brown. The smell is faint, and the taste is spicy and astringent.
The whole plant of wild sorghum is shriveled. The stem is thicker, flattened cylindrical, with a brown to dark brown surface, brown glandular hairs, and no petals. The smell is faint, and the taste is spicy and astringent.
2. Red Asarum
The rhizome of Red Asarum is irregularly long and block-shaped, about 7cm long and 0.5-1cm in diameter. The surface is brownish and uneven, with numerous root marks, and sometimes scale-like bracts can be seen.
There are brownish-yellow long hairs on the residual stem base. The texture is hard, not easy to break, the section is powdery, yellowish-white, slightly red or reddish-brown.
The smell is faint, and the taste is bitter and spicy. The larger, harder, and white or slightly red sections are preferred.
