The Chinese medicinal herb Chishangsan, what diseases can it treat and how is it cultivated?
Chishangsan
[Characteristics]
Identification: The rhizomes are slender, reddish-brown in color, with swollen nodes and numerous fibrous roots.
The stems are cylindrical, slender, slightly flattened, with slight branching in the upper part, pale green or slightly reddish-brown, hairy or nearly hairless; the cross-section is hollow.
The leaves are ovate, elongated ovate, or triangular ovate, measuring 5-8 cm in length, 3-5 cm in width, gradually tapering at the tip, with a nearly truncate or slightly cordate base that extends downward to the petiole, and 1-3 pairs of circular incisions that form inwardly concave lobes on both sides, with dark purple triangular markings on the upper surface; the stipules are sheath-like, membranous, and brown.
The inflorescence is terminal, composed of several head-like inflorescences; the corolla is white or pink. It has a slight aroma and a slightly astringent taste.
[Therapeutic uses of Chishangsan]
Chishangsan clears heat, detoxifies, activates blood circulation, and reduces swelling. It is used to treat dysentery, leukorrhea, headache due to blood heat, excessive menstruation, amenorrhea, breast abscess, and bruises.
① "Folk Compilation of Commonly Used Medicinal Herbs": "Clears the heat in the three burners. Treats dizziness."
Chishangsan
② "Hunan Materia Medica": "Analgesic."
③ "Selected Practical Chinese Herbal Medicine in Guangxi": "Reduces swelling and detoxifies. Treats snake bites, abscesses, unidentified swellings, mastitis."
④ "Commonly Used Chinese Medicinal Herbs in Sichuan": "Clears heat, activates blood circulation. Treats internal injuries, headaches and dizziness due to blood heat, excessive menstruation, amenorrhea, cough due to deficient fire, dysentery with red or white discharge, abscesses, and ulcers."
[Cultivation techniques of Chishangsan]
Biological characteristics: It prefers shade and humidity and can tolerate cold temperatures. It grows well in loose, fertile, and well-drained soil.
Cultivation techniques: It is propagated by division and seeds, with division being the main method. After the shoots have withered in winter and before they emerge in spring, dig up the rhizomes and divide them into individual plants, leaving a bud and fibrous roots on each plant. When planting, plow the land and create raised beds 1.3 meters wide, with holes spaced approximately 33 cm apart.
Plant 2 plants per hole, compact the soil in the planting area, apply livestock manure and wood ash, and finally cover with fine soil to level with the bed surface.
Field management: After planting, weed and fertilize 3 times a year. The first time is just after the shoots emerge in March, the second time is in June or July, and the third time is when the shoots wither in winter. For the third fertilization, wood ash or compost can be applied.
Key points of cultivation: Propagation can be done by sowing or division, with division being preferable in spring and autumn, and sowing in spring. It is vigorous and requires minimal management. It is advisable to provide some shade, and in autumn and winter, clear away the withered parts above ground to facilitate the growth of new branches in the following spring.
