Chishangsan is the whole herb of the Lamiaceae plant Lysimachia christinae Hance or Lysimachia christinae var. hirta Franch. It grows in damp places such as roadsides, ditches, and grasslands, or it can be cultivated. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that Chishangsan has the effects of clearing heat, detoxification, promoting blood circulation, and reducing swelling. It is mainly used to treat dysentery, leukorrhea, heat-induced headaches, abnormal uterine bleeding, amenorrhea, mastitis, and injuries from falls.
[What is Chishangsan?]
It is an annual or perennial herb, 30-50cm tall. The rhizome is slender and yellow, with black-brown fibrous roots. The stem is slender, erect or ascending, slightly branched, purple, with nodes and fine white hairs, or nearly hairless.
The leaves of Chishangsan are opposite; the leaf stalks are short, winged, with leaf auricles at the base, and the upper leaves are nearly stalkless; the leaf sheaths are tubular, membranous, up to 1cm long, with hairy or non-hairy margins; the leaf blades are ovate, pinnately lobed, 5-8cm long, 3-8cm wide;
The apical lobes are larger, triangular-ovate, gradually pointed, and the lateral lobes are 1-3 pairs, nearly truncate at the base, hairless or hairy on both sides, with purple-black spots in the middle on the upper surface, and fine marginal hairs.
The heads are clustered at the top of the branches, usually in pairs, with glandular hairs on the peduncle; the corolla is 5-lobed, pink, and green along the back;
The stamens are 8, shorter than the corolla; the stigma is rounded and 3-lobed. The fruit is ovoid, 3-angular, black-brown with fine dots. It blooms from July to August.
[Habitat and Distribution of Chishangsan]
1. Ecological environment
(1) It grows in damp places such as roadsides, ditches, and grasslands, or can be cultivated.
(2) It grows in the undergrowth of slopes below 3000m above sea level, and in valley grasslands.
2. Resource distribution
(1) It is distributed in southwestern China, as well as Shaanxi, Gansu, Taiwan, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Tibet, and other places.
(2) It is distributed in southwestern China, as well as Shaanxi, Gansu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Tibet, and other places.
[Functions and Indications of Chishangsan!]
Chishangsan clears heat, detoxifies, promotes blood circulation, and relaxes tendons. It is used to treat dysentery, diarrhea, leukorrhea, abnormal uterine bleeding, painful menstruation, mastitis, unidentified swelling and toxicity, snake bites, injuries from falls, and lumbar pain caused by overexertion.
1. Treatment for dysentery
Take one or two liang of Chishangsan, decoct in water, and take orally.
2. Treatment for abdominal pain
Take five qian of Chishangsan and one qian of muxiang, decoct in water, and take orally.
3. Treatment for leukorrhea
Take six qian of Chishangsan, three qian of pine wood pulp, and three qian of sandalwood pulp, decoct in water, and take orally; add white sugar for leukorrhea; add brown sugar, rose flowers, and donkey-hide gelatin for red leukorrhea.
4. Treatment for abscesses
Mash Chishangsan into a paste and apply topically.
5. Treatment for injuries from falls
Decoct Chishangsan in water and mix with alcohol for oral administration. (The following formula is from the "Hunan Materia Medica")
6. Treatment for mastitis
Mash the whole herb of Chishangsan or potatoes and wild buckwheat, add rice wine lees, and apply externally. (From "Practical Selection of Chinese Medicinal Herbs in Guangxi")
