What are the medicinal properties of Dajiugu Niu and what are its characteristics as a traditional Chinese medicine? Today, let's take a detailed look at Dajiugu Niu with the guidance of traditional Chinese medicine.
Dajiugu Niu
[Other Names of Dajiugu Niu]
Jiu Niu Bu Li Mu, Lv Tian Ma, Da Jie Gu.
[Source of Dajiugu Niu]
Origin of Medicinal Material: The rhizome of the plant Dobinea delavayi (Baill.) Baill. [Podoon delavayi Baill.] from the family Anacardiaceae.
Collection and Storage: Harvested in autumn, winter, and spring, cleaned, and dried in the sun or sliced and dried.
[Original Form of Dajiugu Niu]
Dajiugu Niu is a perennial subshrub of the family Anacardiaceae, reaching a height of about 1m.
The rhizome is thick, cylindrical, purplish-brown, with stripes, sparsely covered with fine hairs on the upper part and hairless on the lower part.
Leaves are opposite; petioles are 1.5-6cm long, with the upper leaves almost sessile or nearly sessile;
Dajiugu Niu
Leaf blades are heart-shaped or ovate-heart-shaped, 6-11cm long, 3-9cm wide, with the upper leaves smaller, ovate or lanceolate-ovate, gradually or abruptly pointed at the apex, rounded at the base, irregularly serrated at the edges, sparsely covered with fine hairs or nearly hairless on the upper surface, and covered with fine stiff hairs on the lower surface; petioles almost absent or nearly absent; lateral veins in 6-7 pairs.
Flowers are small, unisexual and dioecious; male flowers are in umbel-like or umbel-cone-like clusters, terminal or axillary, 8-15cm long; calyx is hairless, with blunt triangular lobes; petals are spoon-shaped; stamens are 8 (-10);
Filaments are thread-like, about 2mm long; anthers are oval-shaped; flower disk is purple-red; sterile ovaries are cone-shaped, about 1mm long; female flowers are in racemes, terminal or in upper leaf axils, drooping when fruiting;
There are 2 leaf-like bracts, white, with soft hairs and ciliate margins; no sepals, petals, or stamens.
The fruit is supported by enlarged bracts, with a diameter of 3-4mm, covered with fine hairs and veins, borne on the lower part of the bracts, which expand to become broad elliptical or nearly circular, with a diameter of 2-2.5cm and reticulate veins. One seed. The flowering period is in autumn.
[Habitat and Distribution of Dajiugu Niu]
Ecological Environment: Dajiugu Niu grows on sunny grassy slopes or shrubs at an altitude of 1100-2300m.
Distribution: Dajiugu Niu is distributed in Sichuan, Yunnan, and other regions.
Dajiugu Niu
[Characteristics of Dajiugu Niu]
Identification: Cylindrical, 3.7-7.5cm long, grayish-white or light brown surface, opaque, with 3-4 concentric rings and longitudinal stripes visible when the outer skin is not removed, and a layer of outer skin that can be peeled off resembling fibers. Visible distinct knife marks.
There is a depressed or raised stem scar at the top. The texture is solid and not easily broken, with an uneven surface similar to a cork. It has a faint odor and a slightly bitter taste. Microscopic identification: Powder characteristics: light brown.
① Numerous starch grains, single or compound. Single grains are round, helmet-shaped, or axe-shaped, with a few irregular quadrilateral grains, with a diameter of 3-8-13μm. Larger starch grains occasionally have cross-shaped hilum, and the layers are not obvious. Compound grains consist of 2-4 sub-grains; sub-grains are often helmet-shaped, semi-circular, or triangular-prismatic.
② Calcium oxalate cluster crystals exist in the phloem and thin-walled cells of the bark, petal-like or sharp, with a diameter of 8-26μm.
③ The vessels are reticulate, with a diameter of up to 80μm, with inclined end walls and elongated pits; fragments of vessels with extremely large marginal pits can also be seen.
④ The wood parenchyma tissue is in pieces, with cells rectangular or elongated, with slightly thickened walls.
[Therapeutic Functions of Dajiugu Niu]
Dajiugu Niu has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, cough-suppressing, and anti-ulcer properties. It is used to treat cough due to lung heat, mastitis, parotitis, and carbuncles.
[Application of Dajiugu Niu in Prescriptions]
Treatment of cough due to lung heat: Take 15g of Dajiugu Niu (peeled), 6g of Xiang Ling Cao, and 6g of Wa Cao. Grind them into powder and take 6g each time, twice a day.
Treatment of mastitis, parotitis, carbuncles, and abscesses: Take equal amounts of Dajiugu Niu, Chong Lou, Bai Ji, Xiao Nian Yao, and Wu Xiang Xue Teng, grind them into powder, and mix with honey or vinegar for external application.
