Baogai grass, also known as bone-setting grass, can be used for bone-setting treatment after fractures. Baogai grass not only has high medicinal value, but also has unique plant morphology, which can be used for horticultural appreciation. Now let's observe the morphological characteristics of Baogai grass together.
Image of Baogai grass
1. Seedling
The cotyledons are nearly circular with a slightly concave apex and a small pointed protrusion in the center, with long petioles. The lower hypocotyl is highly developed and purple-red. The first true leaves are opposite, slightly kidney-shaped, with a blunt round apex, and a round serrated margin and heart-shaped base.
Image of Baogai grass
2. Adult plant
Baogai grass is 10-30 cm tall, with branched stems at the base that rise upwards, often purple or deep blue in color, and hollow in the middle. The lower leaves of the stem have long petioles, while the upper leaves are sessile. The leaf blades are all round or kidney-shaped, with a round apex, truncate or truncate-wedge-shaped base, semi-clasping the stem, and deep rounded teeth along the edges. Both sides of the leaves are sparsely covered with small rough hairs.
Image of Baogai grass
3. Flowers and fruits
The inflorescence is an umbel, with lanceolate or diamond-shaped bracts covered with hairs. The calyx is tubular, with white straight long hairs on the outside.
The corolla is purple-red, with short hairs of a similar color on the outside of the upper lip and fine hairs on the rest, with a slender cylindrical tube. The upper lip extends straight and is elongated, while the lower lip is 3-cleft, with the middle lobe inverted heart-shaped and deeply concave.
The style is unequally 2-cleft at the apex. The floral cup is cup-shaped with rounded teeth. The small nut of Baogai grass is inverted oval and has 3 ridges, with a pale grayish-yellow color.
