Traditional Chinese medicine, which can treat diseases, improve health, and make nourishing soups, is very practical. However, due to the wide variety of Chinese herbs, it is impossible for people to know about every single one. Today, I will introduce you to Dajiugu Niu.
What is Dajiugu Niu
Dajiugu Niu is the root of the Aceraceae plant Acer truncatum. The roots are harvested in autumn, winter, and spring, washed, sliced, and dried.
Appearance: It is a shrub, about 1 meter tall, with thick and fat roots and sparsely branched white hairs.
The leaves are alternate; the leaf blade is ovate elliptic, 3-6.5 cm long and 2-4.5 cm wide, with a blunt or slightly pointed tip, a rounded base, and irregular coarse serrations on the edges; no stipules.
The flowers are small and white, with separate male and female plants. The male flowers have cup-shaped sepals with 4 lobes and 4 spatulate petals. The female flowers have no petals and a ring-shaped floral disc. There are 2 leaf-like bracts, white in color. The fruit is flat and does not split, attached to the middle of the wing-like bracts. There is 1 seed, and it blooms in autumn.
Growth environment: It grows on sunny grass slopes or shrubs at an altitude of 1100-2300 meters.
Medicinal Use of Dajiugu Niu
Main functions: It has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, cough-suppressing, and wound-healing effects. It is used to treat lung heat cough, mastitis, parotitis, and boils.
Usage: Boil in water for 3-5 qian (a traditional Chinese unit of weight); grind into powder or soak in alcohol. External use: Grind into powder for external application.
Compound prescriptions:
(1) For lung heat cough: Take 5 qian of Dajiugu Niu root (peeled), 2 qian of Xianglingcao (Prunella vulgaris), and 2 qian of Wacao (Piper futokadsura). Grind them together into powder and take 2 qian each time, twice a day.
(2) For mastitis, parotitis, boils, and abscesses: Take equal parts of Dajiugu Niu, Chonglou (Caulis Aristolochiae manshuriensis), Baiji (Bletilla striata), Xiaozhancao (Pygmaeopremna herbacea), and Wuxiang xueteng (Caulis Spatholobi cum Radice). Grind them into powder and mix with honey or vinegar for external application.
