Chinese herbal medicine Da Guolu Huang is commonly used for wind-heat cough, sore throat, and hot and toxic sores. It is an annual or perennial herb that is collected in the summer. What are the morphological characteristics of Da Guolu Huang?
Image of Da Guolu Huang
【Usage and Dosage of Da Guolu Huang】
Da Guolu Huang is the whole plant of the Primulaceae plant Lepidium pratense. It grows under broad-leaved forests and valleys, along roadsides, at an altitude of 600-2600m. It is distributed in Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan and other places.
Taste and nature: Da Guolu Huang has a mild taste and a neutral nature. It belongs to the lung and stomach meridians.
Usage and dosage:
Oral administration: Decoction, 15-30g. External use: Appropriate amount, apply the fresh product after pounding, or boil with water for washing.
Image of Da Guolu Huang
【Morphological Characteristics of Da Guolu Huang】
1. Stem
The stem usually grows in clusters, with a curved and erect knee, 10-30cm tall. In shady and humid habitats, the lower part of the stem often grows creeping, rooting on the nodes, and the upper part grows zigzag and can reach 60cm long. It is single or branched, densely covered with 1-1.5mm long multicellular hairs.
2. Leaves
Leaves are opposite, with the two pairs at the top of the stem close together, forming a whorl. They are usually 1-2 times larger than the lower leaves. The leaf blades are ovate to ovate-elliptic, occasionally lanceolate, 1.5-8cm long, 8-40mm wide. The apex is sharp or slightly blunt with an abrupt tip, the base is broadly wedge-shaped, dark green on the upper surface, lighter on the lower surface, and both sides are covered with rough hairs up to 1mm long.
3. Flowers
Flowers are terminal inflorescences, nearly head-like, and mostly multi-flowered. The flower stalk is 1-7mm long, covered with soft hairs. The calyx is 6-9mm long, split almost to the base, with lanceolate lobes, gradually pointed at the apex, and covered with soft hairs on the back. The corolla is yellow, 10-13mm long, with a fused base about 3mm long, and the lobes are inverted ovate or oblong, 4-6mm wide, with a sharp or round apex and transparent glandular dots.
