Gang Meigen, Chinese name. It is the root of the holly plant, Ilex rotunda. It has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, generating body fluids and quenching thirst, and promoting blood circulation and dispersing stasis. It is commonly used for colds, headaches, dizziness, fever and thirst, scrofula, heat diarrhea, lung abscess, whooping cough, sore throat, bleeding hemorrhoids, urinary tract infections, boils and abscesses, and injuries from falls.
Chinese name: Gang Meigen
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Aquifoliales
Genus: Ilex
Distribution area: Guangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi, etc.
Dosage: 15-30g
Also known as: Gang Mei, Cao Lou Xing, Cheng Xing Mu, Bai Dian Cheng
Phylum: Spermatophyta
Family: Aquifoliaceae
Species: Ilex rotunda
Harvesting time: Harvest in autumn
Toxicity: Non-toxic
(Source: "Essentials of Herbal Properties")
【Synonyms】Bai Jie ("Guangxi Veterinary Medicine and Plant"), Tu Gan Cao, Chen Gan Gen, Pen Bao Yin ("Nanning Pharmacopoeia"), Dian Cheng Gen ("Common Chinese Herbal Manual of Guangzhou Troops"), Tian Xing Gen ("Guangxi Chinese Herbal Medicine"), Qi Xing Shi, Shan Mei Gen ("Major Toxic Plants in the South")
【Source】It is the root of the holly plant, Ilex rotunda.
【Plant morphology】Ilex rotunda, also known as Gang Mei, Cao Lou Xing ("Essentials of Herbal Properties"), Jia Qing Mei, Cheng Xing Mu, Bai Dian Cheng, Man Tian Xing, Jia Gan Cao, Tian Xing Mu.
Deciduous shrub, 1-2 meters high. Branches are smooth and purple when young, with short hairs. Leaves are alternate, ovate, inverted ovate, or elliptical, 2.5-8 cm long, 1.5-3 cm wide, paper-like, acute or gradually pointed at the apex, with small serrations on the edges, broadly cuneate or rounded at the base, smooth on the upper surface or slightly hairy, hairless on the lower surface, with prominent veins; petioles are 6-10 mm long. Flowers are white, dioecious, with 2-3 male flowers clustered or solitary in the leaf axils or scale axils, with 5-10 mm long peduncles; sepals are ovate with cilia on the edges, stamens are about 3.5 mm long, with short filaments; female flowers are solitary in the leaf axils, with 4-6 numbers, with slender pedicels up to 2.5 cm long, pistil is 1, with a shallowly split stigma. Fruits are spherical, about 6 mm in diameter, turning black when ripe. Seeds are divided into 4-6 parts. Flowering period is from April to May. Fruiting period is from July to August.
It grows in sparse forests on barren slopes or in shrubbery. It is distributed in Guangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi, and other places.
The leaves of this plant (Gang Mei Ye) are also used as medicine, please refer to the separate entry for details.
【Collection】Harvest in autumn or winter, dry in the sun, or cut into slices and dry.
【Pharmacological effects】Perfusion of Gang Mei injection into isolated guinea pig hearts has the effects of increasing coronary blood flow and strengthening heart contraction; on the electrocardiogram of acute myocardial ischemia induced by posterior pituitary lobe extract in rabbits, it has a protective effect on T-wave changes (elevation), and can also reduce S-T segment displacement and rhythm disorder to some extent.
【Properties】Bitter and sweet, cool.
① "Lingnan Materia Medica Record": "Taste bitter."
② "Lu Chuan Materia Medica": "Sweet, cool."
③ "Nanning Pharmacopoeia": "Sweet, mild, non-toxic."
【Efficacy and functions of Gang Meigen】
【Efficacy】
Clears heat, generates body fluids, promotes blood circulation, and detoxifies. It is used for colds, headaches, dizziness, fever and dryness, scrofula, heat diarrhea, lung abscess, hemoptysis, sore throat, bleeding hemorrhoids, urinary tract infections, boils and abscesses, and injuries from falls.
① "Essentials of Herbal Properties": "Kills parasites, treats injuries from falls."
② "Lingnan Materia Medica Record": "Clears heat and toxins. It is commonly used to make cooling tea. Also used to treat scabies."
③ "Lu Chuan Materia Medica": "Clears heat and toxins, generates body fluids and stops diarrhea. It is used to treat fever with dryness and thirst, heat diarrhea, and general throat diseases."
④ "Nanning Pharmacopoeia": "Clears heat and detoxifies, moistens the lungs and quenches thirst. It is used to treat sore throat, thirst, hemoptysis, and scrofula."
⑤ "Practical Chinese Herbal Medicine": "Used to treat acute tonsillitis, pharyngitis, lung abscess, and colds."
【Usage and dosage】Oral administration: Decoction, 1-2 liang. External use: Crush and apply.
【Functions of Gang Meigen】
①Treatment of lung abscess: Use 0.5-1 catty of Gang Meigen. Decoct and take several times.
②Treatment of bleeding hemorrhoids: Use 8 taels of Gang Meigen. Remove the skin, cut into pieces, and cook with pork for consumption.
③Treatment of double or single throat moth: Use 1 tael of Gang Meigen, 4 bamboo wasps, 2 qian of tangerine peel, and 1 qian of Xixin. Decoct and take. (①The following formula is from "Lingnan Materia Medica")
④Treatment of gonorrhea: Use 2 taels of Gang Meigen. Decoct and take.
⑤Treatment of breast abscess in women: Use 1 tael of Gang Meigen and 1 green shell duck egg. Stew and consume.
⑥Treatment of injuries from falls: Use 2 taels of fresh Gang Meigen (cut into slices and stir-fry with wine) and 1 chicken. Stew with water and wine, and consume the egg and soup. (④The following formula is from Fujian)
⑦Treatment of influenza, high fever from colds, acute tonsillitis, pharyngitis: Use 5-10 qian of dried Gang Meigen root, or 1-2 taels of fresh root. Decoct and take. ("Common Chinese Herbal Manual of Guangzhou Troops")
⑧Treatment of unilateral or bilateral headaches: Use 3 taels of fresh Gang Meigen root, 2 taels of chicken's shoot vine, and 2 duck eggs. Decoct, consume the eggs and soup.
⑨Treatment of dizziness: Use 2 taels of fresh Gang Meigen root and 1 tael of Asarum. Decoct and take.
⑩Treatment of pertussis in children: Use 1 tael of Gang Meigen root and 1 tael of white grass root. Decoct, add honey, and take.
⑾Treatment of poisoning from eating wild mushrooms or arsenic: ㈠Use 4 taels of fresh Gang Meigen root, 2 taels of fresh honeysuckle, and 2 taels of fresh Lysimachia. Decoct and take. ㈡Grind Gang Meigen root with water on rusty iron and take the juice orally. (The following formulas are from "Jiangxi Herbal Manual")
【Clinical Applications】Prevention and treatment of various infections
Gang Meigen root is made into a 100% injection, 2 ml each time, injected into the muscle 2-3 times a day. It has been used in 171 cases of various surgeries, and no postoperative infections or infection spread were found. It has also been used in 50 cases of trauma fractures, burns, urinary tract stones, intestinal obstruction, and cerebrovascular accidents, and no secondary infections were found. It has been used to treat various infectious diseases such as biliary tract infections, pulmonary infections, and endometritis and adnexitis in 84 cases, with an effective rate of about 95%. According to statistics from some cases, the average fever subsided in 3.5 days (20 cases), white blood cell count returned to normal in 4.5 days (13 cases), and lung rales disappeared in 7.5 days. Generally, there were no serious side effects during the use of the medication, but local injection was more painful, and two cases of bronchial asthma patients had similar allergic reactions such as chills and difficulty breathing after injection, which may be related to the patients' allergic constitution, so clinical attention should be paid.
