Shepherd's purse is a perennial herbaceous plant, mainly used for its roots in medicine, with the effects of strengthening the middle and relieving thirst and detoxification. However, it should be noted that people with weak lungs and cough should be cautious in consumption!
【Medicinal Uses of Shepherd's Purse】
1. Strengthening the middle and relieving thirst: Take one pig kidney, one liter of black soybeans, and one and a half liters of water. Boil until half of the liquid remains. Remove the residue and keep the juice. Then add three liang of shepherd's purse and gypsum, two liang each of ginseng, poria, magnetite, anemarrhena, kudzu root, scutellaria baicalensis, paulownia root, and licorice. Boil together until the volume reduces to three liters.
2. Treating abscesses and swelling: Mash fresh shepherd's purse roots into juice for internal consumption, and apply the residue as a poultice to the abscess. It can be cured in three applications.
3. Dark spots on the face: Grind one liang each of shepherd's purse and cinnamon into fine powder. Take one teaspoon with vinegar soup.
【Propagation Methods of Shepherd's Purse】
Shepherd's purse is a perennial herbaceous plant. It is also known as apricot leaf sand ginseng, citrus bellflower, sweet bellflower, white-rooted plantain, and apricot leaf vegetable in the northeast region of China.
The tender leaves are used for food and are excellent spring wild vegetables. The roots can also be made into candied fruits, which are very sweet and delicious, and can be used medicinally as sand ginseng (also known as southern sand ginseng).
It is propagated by seeds. Due to its long taproot, it is not suitable for division. It prefers loose and fertile soil.
【Precautions for Medicinal Use of Shepherd's Purse】
People with wind-cold cough should avoid consumption.
1. "Compendium of Materia Medica Annotations": It is incompatible with Fangji and Lilu.
2. "Commentary on Compendium of Materia Medica": It should not be consumed by those with no real heat in the organs and lungs, as it may cause diarrhea.
