Baogai grass is a common green plant in rural areas. Although it is considered a weed that affects crop growth by farmers, in the eyes of traditional Chinese medicine, Baogai grass is a treasure for dispelling wind and dampness, and has excellent medicinal effects!
【Morphology of Baogai Grass】
The root: cylindrical and thin, with a light brown surface.
The stem: erect or creeping, branching at the base, tetragonal with shallow grooves, purple or dark blue. It is covered with short hairs when young, which gradually fall off. The plant is 10-30cm tall.
The leaves: round or kidney-shaped, 0.5-2cm long, 1.2-2.5cm wide, rounded at the apex, truncate or heart-shaped at the base, with deep rounded teeth or shallow clefts on the edges, and sparsely covered with rough hairs on both sides. The lower leaves have long petioles, while the upper leaves are nearly sessile and semi-amplexicaul.
The flowers: umbels with 6-10 flowers, nearly sessile. The bracts are lanceolate to diamond-shaped, with marginal hairs. The calyx of Baogai grass is tubular and bell-shaped, 5-6mm long, with lanceolate tooth-like lobes, similar in length to the calyx tube, and densely covered with long, straight, white hairs that extend outward.
【Medicinal Uses of Baogai Grass】
In fact, Baogai grass is not just a weed in the fields. It has high medicinal value and is a precious medicinal herb, but few farmers know about its medicinal effects.
According to "Zhonghua Bencao" (Compendium of Materia Medica), the whole Baogai grass can be used as a medicinal herb. It has a sweet and bitter taste, neutral nature, and is non-toxic. It has the functions of dispelling heat, promoting diuresis, activating blood circulation, dispelling wind, reducing swelling, and detoxification. It can be used for jaundice hepatitis, lymph node tuberculosis, hypertension, facial nerve paralysis, hemiplegia, bruises, fractures, and eczema. Especially, it has remarkable effect for dispelling dampness.
Although it is a weed and harmful plant in the fields, its medicinal value is high, especially for dispelling dampness and treating bruises, swelling, and pain.
【Usage of Baogai Grass】
1. For treating bruises and injuries:
Baogai grass, mallow root, and greater burdock. Grind them together with egg white and honey, apply to the affected area, change it once a night. If the pain persists for a long time, add scallion and ginger.
2. For treating fractures and tendon injuries:
Two liang of bone-setting herb, one liang of purple kudzu root (filed), one liang of dendrobium orchid (root removed and filed), one or two liang of morinda officinalis, one liang of clove, one liang of xuduanyao, and one liang of aconite (wrapped in flour and heated until cooked). Apply the medicine and grind it into a coarse powder.
Regardless of the time, take two qian of the powder with warm wine.
