Chinese herb Xiaoshiwei is the whole herb or root of the plant in the family of Hydrocharitaceae, subfamily Ceratophyllum. It has a similar appearance to stonecrop. It has a cool nature and a bitter and astringent taste. It is distributed in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Heilongjiang, and other regions.
Effects and functions of Xiaoshiwei:
Taste: sweet, bitter, slightly cold.
Meridian Tropism: Lung and bladder meridians.
Effects: Diuretic, clears heat, stops bleeding.
Indications: Used for hot urinary disorders, bloody urine, urinary stones, urinary obstruction, painful urination, hemoptysis, bleeding, blood in urine, excessive menstruation, and lung heat with wheezing and coughing.
Plant morphology of Xiaoshiwei:
Similar stonecrop is a perennial herb.
Rhizomes are creeping, densely covered with needle-like scale hairs, yellow-brown, with internode distance of 5-8 millimeters.
Leaves are solitary, erect, lanceolate, 6-8 centimeters long, 5-8 millimeters wide, gradually pointed at the tip, sometimes the anterior part is swollen and becomes inverted lanceolate, with entire margin, wedge-shaped base, semi-leathery and thick, green on the upper surface, densely covered with star-shaped hairs when young, gradually falling off with age, and with many yellow glandular dots, which become concave dots when dry, with inconspicuous lateral veins, pale green with a light yellow shade on the lower surface, densely covered with star-shaped hairs, with thick and raised midveins; leaf stalks have nodes, densely covered with scale-like hairs below the nodes, with very short nodes.
Asci are globose in shape, with 2-4 rows on each side of the midvein, yellow-brown.
Grows on tree trunks, rocky walls, and damp places.
