The underground centipede, also known as the seven-fingered fern, centipede grass, water centipede, or false seven-leaf flower, is the rhizome of the plant seven-fingered fern in the family of seven-fingered fern. It is mainly distributed in Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and other places. It is used in medicine to treat common injuries such as sprains and bruises.
【Morphological Characteristics of the Underground Centipede】
The underground centipede is a perennial herb. Its rhizome is thick and horizontally running, with a purple-red color on the outside and white on the inside, resembling a centipede.
The petiole is 20-30 centimeters long and brownish. The nutritive leaves are palm-shaped with bird's foot-like lobes, herbaceous, hairless, usually 3-foliate, 15-25 centimeters long, and 20-25 centimeters wide.
The basal pinnae have short stalks, 0.5-0.8 centimeters long, bifurcated, and the central pinnae are trifurcated or divided. The lobes are elliptical to lanceolate, 8-14 centimeters long, and 2-3 centimeters wide.
The apex is pointed, the base is wedge-shaped, and the edges have wavy small serrations or are nearly entire. The main vein is prominently raised, and the lateral veins are separated, with 1-2 forks. The sporangia spikes are solitary, arising from the middle of the leaf base, with a stalk 7-9 centimeters long and brownish, and a spike 8-12 centimeters long, green.
The sporangia are spherical, stalkless, and several of them are clustered on the receptacle, with uneven comb-like protrusions at the top. The spores are ovoid and smooth. It grows in moist sparse forests, by streams, ditches, or wetlands in forests. It is distributed in Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and other places.
【Clinical Applications of the Underground Centipede】
1. Cough and asthma: Take 9g of underground centipede and 3g of licorice, decocted in water and taken orally.
2. Sprains and internal injuries: Take an appropriate amount of underground centipede, grind it into powder, and take 2g each time with rice wine or hot water.
Soak the underground centipede in a child's stool for forty-nine days, wash it clean, dry it, and grind it into powder. Take six minutes each time, and swallow it with wine or hot water.
3. Dysentery: Take 9g of fresh underground centipede and 20g of fresh purslane, mash them and mix with saltwater for oral administration.
Although the underground centipede can treat cough, it is not recommended for pregnant women to use.
