Bloodwort is a traditional Chinese medicine, which refers to the whole grass or root bark of the honeysuckle family plant bloodwort. It is mainly produced in Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan and other provinces. Bloodwort has the effects of dispelling wind, promoting blood circulation, reducing swelling, detoxifying, and relieving pain. It is mainly used to treat bruises, fractures, rheumatism, and edema.
【Plant Morphology】
Bloodwort is a perennial herb, 0.5-1.5m tall. It has a rhizome that is cylindrical and yellowish-brown in color. When broken, it oozes red sap, hence the name "bloodwort". The stem has longitudinal grooves and obvious nodes. The leaves are pinnately compound, with 5 to 9 leaflets. They are sessile or nearly sessile, with an oblong to narrow elliptic shape. The leaf apex is gradually pointed, and the base is inclined, with the uppermost pair of leaflets fused at the base. Sometimes, they are also connected to the terminal leaflet, with fine teeth along the edges. The large compound umbel inflorescence is terminal. The flowers are small, white, with 5 sepals, petals, and stamens, and there are no yellow cup-shaped glands between the flowers. The bracts are very small or absent. The fruit is a berry-like drupe, spherical, red in color, with a relatively smooth surface and only slight wrinkles. The flowering period is from June to July, and the fruiting period is from August to September.
【Distribution and Habitat】
Bloodwort is mainly distributed in Yuanzhou, Longde, and Jingyuan counties (districts), growing along roadsides, ditches, forest edges, and sparse forests. It is distributed in provinces such as Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan.
【Harvesting and Processing】
In autumn, the whole grass is harvested. Remove the soil and separate the above-ground part from the rhizome. Use it fresh or dry it separately for later use.
【Morphological Characteristics】
The rhizome is fusiform and slightly flattened, long and twisted, with a diameter of 3-8mm. The surface is grayish-brown with obvious longitudinal wrinkles, and there are adventitious roots at the nodes. It is tough and not easily broken, with a yellow-white color on the cross-section, fibrous, and with medullary tissue. It has no odor and a mild, slightly salty taste. The stem is cylindrical, branched, with a diameter of about 1cm. The surface is brownish-purple or grayish-brown, with longitudinal furrows. It is brittle and easily broken, with medullary tissue. The leaves are opposite, pinnately compound, greenish-brown, often wrinkled and fragmented. The intact leaflets are elongated elliptic to lanceolate in shape, with coarse serrations along the edges, gradually pointed apex, and asymmetric base.
【Properties and Channels】
Bloodwort has a slightly warm property and a mild, slightly bitter taste. It enters the spleen and kidney channels.
【Functions and Indications】
Bloodwort has the effects of dispelling wind, promoting blood circulation, reducing swelling, detoxifying, and relieving pain. It is used for bruises, rheumatic pain, and edema. It can be applied externally to treat fractures.
1. "Plant Names and Realities": "Used for soaking feet in cases of dampness and swelling."
2. "Yunnan Chinese Herbal Medicine": "Dispels wind, activates collaterals, disperses stasis, relieves itching. Used for wind rash, rheumatic pain, infantile paralysis, bruises, fractures, and edema."
3. "Commonly Used Tibetan Chinese Herbal Medicine": "Promotes blood circulation, disperses stasis, strengthens tendons and bones, dispels wind and dampness, eliminates water, and reduces swelling. Used for rheumatoid arthritis, chronic lumbago and leg pain, sprains, hematomas, fractures."
4. "Illustrated Handbook of Medicinal Plants in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau": "Used externally for treating boils, carbuncles, neurodermatitis, and infantile eczema; taken internally for rheumatoid arthritis."
【Dosage and Administration】
The recommended dosage is 9-15g. For external use, apply an appropriate amount of mashed fresh rhizome bark or whole grass to the affected area.
【Clinical Applications】
Bloodwort is used for the treatment of acute and chronic nephritis: 15g of bloodwort, 30g of honeysuckle root, 12g each of mountain bark and stone grass. Decoction for oral administration.
