Diaoyao pen, a traditional Chinese medicine, is the root, root bark, and leaves of the plant Diaoyao pen, a member of the family Apocynaceae. It is distributed in Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces. It has the effects of dispelling wind and promoting blood circulation, resolving phlegm and dispersing nodules, and promoting diuresis. It is mainly used to treat rheumatic pain, lumbago, contusions, scrofula, and chronic bronchitis.
Picture of Diaoyao pen
【Effects and functions of Diaoyao pen】
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that Diaoyao pen has the effects of dispelling wind and promoting blood circulation, resolving phlegm and dispersing nodules, and promoting diuresis. It is mainly used to treat rheumatic pain, lumbago, contusions, scrofula, chronic bronchitis, jaundice-type hepatitis, and ascites caused by liver cirrhosis.
1. "Shengcao Yaoxing Beiyao": "The root is used to treat contusions with alcohol. The flowers (hairy seeds) are used to treat knife wounds."
2. "Common Chinese Medicinal Herb Manual" by Guangzhou Army: "It dispels wind and dampness, promotes blood circulation, resolves nodules, and eliminates stagnation. It is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, lumbago, lymph node tuberculosis, and jaundice-type hepatitis."
【Morphology of Diaoyao pen】
Diaoyao pen is a tall tree, reaching 8-20m in height. The entire plant contains latex. The bark is yellowish-gray and shallowly fissured. The branches are covered with lenticels, and the young branches are covered with yellowish soft hairs, while the old branches are hairless.
The leaves are opposite, with petioles measuring 0.4-1cm in length. The leaf blades are thick and papery, ovate-oblong or lanceolate, measuring 5-10cm in length and 3-6cm in width. The apex is shortly acuminate, and the base is acute to obtuse. The upper surface of the leaves is sparsely covered with soft hairs, while the lower surface is densely covered with soft hairs.
The corolla is white, light yellow, or pink, funnel-shaped, with 5 lobes that are elongated-oval in shape. The corolla has 10 sepals, which are fringed and longer or the same length as the anthers.
The follicles are paired, linear-lanceolate, grayish-brown, with indistinct spots, measuring 15-30cm in length and 1-2cm in diameter.
The seeds are spindle-shaped, yellowish-brown, with pale yellow silky hairs at the apex, measuring 2-3.5cm in length. The flowering period is from April to August, and the fruiting period is from August to February of the following year.
