We often see some unknown weeds on the roadside, some of which have unique shapes. Among them, there is a kind of round leaf that looks like an overturned lid, resembling the lotus seat of the Buddha. This is the Chinese medicinal herb Baogai Cao, also known as Jiegu Cao. Traditional Chinese medicine often uses Baogai Cao to treat bruises and sprains. Let me teach you how to identify Baogai Cao!
Image of Baogai Cao
[Treating Bruises and Sprains with Baogai Cao]
Baogai Cao is used to treat bruises, foot injuries, and redness and swelling that make it difficult to walk.
Method:
Mix Baogai Cao, Boellingia root, and Giant Thistle. Grind them together with egg white and honey, and apply to the affected area. Change the application once a night. If the pain persists, add onion and ginger before applying.
Efficacy:
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that Baogai Cao can dispel wind, promote blood circulation, reduce swelling, and relieve pain. It is used to treat muscle and bone pain, numbness in the limbs, bruises, and lymphadenitis.
① "Dian Nan Ben Cao": "Used to treat pain in the muscles and bones, numbness in the hands and feet. Expels wind that roams throughout the body, disperses lymphadenitis in the hands and feet. Treats bruises and sprains, and stops nasal dripping caused by brain leakage. Relieves redness, swelling, and pain caused by phlegm and heat."
② "Illustrated Study of Plant Names and Their Realities": "Nourishes the muscles, promotes blood circulation, and relieves pain throughout the body."
[Identifying Baogai Cao]
Baogai Cao is an annual erect herb. The stems are weak and square-shaped, often with a purple color, covered with sparse, downward-pointing hairs, and can grow to a height of 10-60 centimeters. The leaves are kidney-shaped or circular, with a heart-shaped or circular base, with rounded teeth and small tears along the edges, and hairy on both sides. The leaves at the base have stalks, while the stem leaves do not. They clasp the stem at the base.
The flowers are arranged in a whorl, with 2 to several flowers, sessile, axillary, and without bracts. The calyx is tubular, 5-6 millimeters long, with 5 teeth, and covered with long, fine hairs on the outside and around the edges. The corolla is purplish-red, 9-17 millimeters long, covered with hairs on the outside, with a slender tube, no hair ring at the base, an expanded throat, an erect upper lip that is elongated and lanceolate, and a 3-lobed lower lip, with the middle lobe fan-shaped and deeply concave at the tip, and the lateral lobes broadly triangular. There are 4 stamens, 2 long and 2 short, with reddish anthers, and a 2-lobed needle-shaped stigma.
The small nut is elongated with 3 ridges, a truncate apex, brownish-black in color, and has white scale-like protrusions. The flowering period is from March to April, and the fruiting period is in June.
[Image of Baogai Cao]
