The dried flower buds of the magnolia tree or the Chinese magnolia vine, known as Houpo flower, are highly valued for their medicinal properties. They are harvested in spring before the flowers bloom, making it easy to confuse them with other similar flowers. Let's learn about the efficacy, functions, and identification methods of Houpo flower.
【Efficacy and Functions of Houpo flower】
In traditional Chinese medicine, Houpo flower is considered warm in nature and bitter in taste. It has excellent health benefits for the large intestine, stomach, lungs, and spleen meridians.
In daily life, this medicinal herb is often used to make decoctions for oral consumption. It can also be made into pills or powders. All forms are effective.
Houpo flower has the effects of regulating qi and transforming dampness. It is used for chest and epigastric stuffiness and fullness, as well as poor appetite.
1. "New Guide to Medicinal Herbs": Broadly regulates the middle and relieves qi stagnation. Treats chest stuffiness and transforms dampness in the spleen and stomach.
2. "Sichuan Materia Medica": Broadly regulates the chest and diaphragm, and reduces counterflow of qi.
"New Guide to Medicinal Herbs": Not suitable for those with yin deficiency and fluid dryness.
The tincture of Houpo flower injected intravenously or intramuscularly into anesthetized rabbits or cats has a hypotensive effect and increases heart rate.
【Identification of Houpo flower】
Houpo flower is white in color, with a diameter of 10-15 centimeters and a fragrant smell. The flower stalk is thick and short, covered with long soft hairs. There is a scar from the fallen bract about 1 centimeter below the petals. The petals are 9-12 (17) and thick and fleshy.
The outer whorl consists of 3 pale green petals that are long oval to inverted egg-shaped, measuring 8-10 centimeters in length and 4-5 centimeters in width. When fully opened, they often curl outward. The inner two whorls are white.
The stamens are about 72 in number, measuring 2-3 centimeters in length. The anthers are 1.2-1.5 centimeters long, inwardly splitting, and the filaments are 4-12 millimeters long and red in color. The pistil group is elliptical to ovoid, measuring 2.5-3 centimeters in length.
Many carpels are spirally arranged on a conical receptacle. The flower stalk is 0.5-2 centimeters long, densely covered with gray-yellow hairs. Houpo flower is brittle and easily broken. It has a fragrant smell and a light taste.
【Similar and Counterfeit Products of Houpo flower】
1. Lotus Magnolia (counterfeit product)
Also known as "Guang Yulan" or "Yulan Magnolia". The flower resembles a lotus, with conical flower buds and white color. It has a fragrant smell and a diameter of 15-20 centimeters. The petals are 9-12, thick and fleshy, and inverted egg-shaped, measuring 6-10 centimeters in length and 5-7 centimeters in width.
The stamens are about 2 centimeters long, with flattened filaments and purple anthers that inwardly split, and the pistil group is ovoid in shape, densely covered with long hairs. The carpels are oval, measuring 1-1.5 centimeters in length, and the stigma is curled.
2. Flower buds of Sichuan Magnolia
Also known as "Chai Houpo flower". The flower buds are oval in shape, large, and solitary at the branch tips, with a fragrant smell. The buds are ovoid, with a scar from the fallen bract about 3-6 millimeters below the petals. The outer whorl consists of 3 inverted egg-shaped, purplish-red petals, measuring 5.5-6.5 centimeters in length and 3 centimeters in width, with a light green color that often turns purple, sparsely covered with long soft hairs. The flower buds of Sichuan Magnolia were mistakenly purchased as Houpo flower in the past.
3. Leaf buds of Magnolia tree or Chinese magnolia vine
The leaf buds of Houpo are narrow and pointed, resembling a pagoda, with one bud per layer, stacked in a set. After peeling, there are no stamens. The flower buds are plump, resembling a brush tip or already opened petals, with three buds per layer, each layer tightly wrapped around the others. After peeling, numerous stamens are visible. When there is a shortage of Houpo flower in the market, leaf buds have been mistaken for Houpo flower.
