Ya Song is the whole grass with roots of Sedum aizoon, a plant in the Crassulaceae family. It is distributed in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces in China. Ya Song has the medicinal properties of clearing heat and detoxification, and promoting wound healing. It is a cold and drought-resistant traditional Chinese medicine.
Image of Ya Song
【Botanical Characteristics of Ya Song】
Plant: An annual herb; hairless with fibrous roots.
Stem: Solitary or clustered, leaning outward, up to 30 cm tall.
Leaves: 3-6 whorled, narrow oblong, 0.8-2 cm long, 2-4 mm wide, pointed at the apex, gradually narrow at the base, entire margin; sessile or nearly sessile.
Flowers: Inflorescence is a cone-shaped or umbel-shaped panicle, with long branches, and flowers are sparse. The pedicel is 5-8 mm long. The calyx has 5 narrow triangular or lanceolate lobes, 1-1.5 mm long, white, and lanceolate egg-shaped, 2-3 mm long.
Fruit: Ya Song seeds are oval, 0.4 mm long.
Image of Ya Song
【Medicinal Uses of Ya Song】
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that Ya Song has the effects of clearing heat and detoxification, and is mainly used to treat hot toxic swellings, erysipelas, orchitis, burns, damp sores, bacterial dysentery, and amoebic dysentery.
In addition, Ya Song also has a sedative effect and can promote wound healing.
Treatment of erysipelas in children: 15g of Ya Song, 9g each of honeysuckle, forsythia, large leaf, dandelion, cortex moutan, red peony, and isatis root. Boil with water and take orally. (Qinling Bashan Natural Medicinal Plant Records)
Treatment of orchitis: Appropriate amount of Ya Song. Crush and apply externally. (Qinling Bashan Natural Medicinal Plant Records)
Image of Ya Song
【Growth and Cultivation of Ya Song】
Ya Song grows under trees on hillsides. It is cold-resistant and drought-tolerant, prefers ample sunlight but can tolerate partial shade, and does not have high requirements for soil, but requires good drainage.
Landscape use: It can be used to arrange flower beds and gardens, or planted in patches as ground cover for slope protection, and can also be used to decorate rock gardens.
Cultivation and propagation: It can be propagated by sowing, dividing, and cutting. Division can be done in spring and autumn, and cutting propagation is relatively simple and can be done during the growing season.
The cultivation site should be well-drained sandy loam or sunny and dry areas. After the first frost, the aboveground parts should be pruned, and enough frozen water should be poured. The plants can safely overwinter. It is distributed in Jilin, Liaoning, and other provinces in China.
