The underground centipede, also known as Seven-fingered fern, Centipede grass, Water centipede, and False seven-leaf one-flower, is the rhizome of the plant Seven-fingered fern, belonging to the Seven-fingered fern family. It is a perennial herb that can be harvested throughout the year. It grows in riversides, ditches, or wetlands in forests. The underground centipede has the medicinal effect of relieving pain and dispelling stasis, and can treat injuries from falls and other conditions.
【Plant Morphology】
The underground centipede is a perennial herb with a plant height of 30-50 cm. Its rhizome is creeping and has a purple-red outer color and a white inner color. It has numerous fleshy coarse roots (resembling centipedes, hence the name). The leaf stalk is 20-30 cm long and brownish. The nutrient leaf is palmate bird's foot-shaped, herbaceous, and hairless. It is usually trifurcate, 15-25 cm long and 20-25 cm wide. Each fork consists of a terminal leaflet and 12 pairs of lateral leaflets. The basal leaflets have short stalks, the central leaflets are elliptical to lanceolate, with pointed tips and wedge-shaped bases. The edges have wavy small serrations or are nearly entire. The main veins are prominently raised, and the leaf veins are separated and forked 1-2 times. The sporangial spike is solitary, emerging from the middle of the leaf base, with a brownish stalk and a greenish spike. The sporangia are arranged in a ring on the receptacle, forming a slender cylindrical shape with uneven cock's comb-like protrusions at the top.
【Habitat Distribution】
The underground centipede grows in moist shaded forests. It is distributed in Longzhou, Nanning, Long'an, Mashan, and Wuzhou in Guangxi.
【Chemical Composition】
The underground centipede contains stigmasterol, fucosterol, and β-sitosterol. The roots contain seven-fingered fernols A, B, C, and D.
【Functions and Indications】
The underground centipede has the functions of clearing heat and relieving fatigue, clearing heat and transforming phlegm, dispelling stasis and relieving pain, etc. It can treat feverish cough, dysentery, injuries from falls, blood stasis pain, pharyngitis, tonsillitis, cough, asthma, injuries from falls, and snake bites.
(1) "Guangxi Medicinal Plants Atlas": "Clears heat, transforms phlegm. Treats feverish cough and injuries from falls."
(2) "Guangxi Medicinal Plants List": "Relieves cough, dispels stasis and generates new tissues, and relieves pain. Treats dysentery, pneumonia, and snake bites."
【Dosage and Administration】
Orally take 6-9g, decoct with water, or grind into powder, take 1.8g each time.
【Clinical Applications】
1. Cough and asthma: Take 9g of underground centipede and 3g of licorice, decoct with water and take orally.
2. Injuries from falls: Take an appropriate amount of underground centipede, grind it into powder, and take 2g each time, accompanied by rice wine or boiling water.
Soak the underground centipede in children's feces for forty-nine days, wash it clean and dry it, and grind it into powder. Take six fen each time, and swallow it with wine or boiling water. ("Guangxi Medicinal Plants Atlas")
3. Dysentery: Take 9g of fresh underground centipede, 20g of fresh purslane, mash and juice, and drink with saltwater.
