Red flower, also known as honglanhua, cihonghua, and caohonghua, is recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica. It is the dried flower of the Carthamus tinctorius L., a plant of the Asteraceae family. The flowers bloom in summer and are picked when the corolla changes from yellow to red, then dried in the shade or sun-dried.
[Processing Method] 1. Red flower: "grind into powder" (Brief Prescriptions for All Diseases), "wash" (General Treatise on Pediatric Health), "crush into pieces" (Collection of Verified Prescriptions by Zhu Shijie), "rub and crush" (Compendium of Soup Solutions). Currently, the original medicinal material is taken, impurities, calyx, and pedicel are removed, and ash residue is sieved out.
2. Fried red flower: "lightly fry" (Complete Record of Holy Aid). Currently, clean red flowers are taken and placed in a pot. They are lightly fried over low heat until there are slight scorch marks, then taken out and cooled.
3. Charred red flower: Clean red flowers are placed in a pot and fried over high heat until reddish-brown. A small amount of water is sprayed to extinguish the sparks, then taken out and cooled completely.
4. Vinegar-soaked red flower: "Soak 12 liang of red flowers in 2 liters of good vinegar for 2 nights, strain, and dry over fire. Then put it back into vinegar and dry again until the vinegar is completely evaporated." Currently, red flowers are taken, vinegar is evenly sprayed, and then placed in a pot. They are fried over low heat until dark red, then taken out and cooled. For every 100kg of red flowers, 20kg of vinegar is used.
