Cicada flower, also known as Guan Chan or Chong Hua, is documented in the "Compendium of Materia Medica". It is the sporophore bundle of the fungus Isaria cicadae Miquel from the family Cordyceps, the subseat of the Cordyceps cicadae Shing, and the parasitic insect body. It is dug out from the soil from June to August, cleaned of dirt, and dried.
[Processing method] "The Thunder Cannon Frying Theory": "After harvesting, hang it to dry in the east corner of the house, remove the soil, boil it in a slurry water for a day and night, bake it dry, and grind it finely." Currently, the original medicinal material is taken and impurities are removed.
[Appearance of the herbal pieces] It is a dried insect body with fungus. The insect body is elongated, slightly curved, about 3cm long, 1-1.4cm in diameter, resembling a cicada molt. There are several gray-black or gray-white sporophore bundles on the head, which are long and strip-shaped or curled, or branched, 2-5cm long, brittle and easily broken. The surface of the insect body is brownish-yellow, mostly covered by gray-white mycelium. After breaking, the insect body is filled with powdery white or whitish soft substance. It has a slight or slight fragrance and a mild taste.
[Processing function] Cicada flower has a sweet and cold taste. It belongs to the lung and liver meridians. It has the functions of dispersing wind-heat, penetrating rash, extinguishing wind and stopping convulsions, and improving vision and reducing opacity. This herb is mostly used for wind-heat exterior syndrome, fever, dizziness, and sore throat; early stage of measles with poor eruption; infantile convulsions and night crying; redness, swelling, and pain in the eyes, opacity covering the eyes. When boiled with Portulaca oleracea, it can be used to treat infantile convulsions and night crying (Fujian Pharmacopoeia); when used with chrysanthemum and Tribulus terrestris, it can treat opacity covering the eyes (Secret Ophthalmology Longmu Theory); when used with Dendrobium officinale and charred Radix Rehmanniae, it can treat itchy rashes all over the body. After proper processing, the purity of the medicinal material can be improved.
