Artemisia selengensis is a plant belonging to the Asteraceae family and the Artemisia genus. It is also known as Xingye shashen or Gan jiegeng in Chinese. In the Northeast region of China, it is called Xingye cai and its tender leaves are used as a spring vegetable. The roots can also be used to make preserved fruits. It has a sweet taste and can also be used medicinally, known as Shashen or Nanshashen.
【Morphological Characteristics】
The root of Artemisia selengensis is cylindrical and can grow up to 30 cm long. The stem does not branch and can reach a height of 50-90 cm. The stem has alternate leaves that are sessile or nearly sessile. The leaf blades are narrowly ovate, rhombic-ovate, or elongate-ovate, measuring 3-8 cm long and 1-4 cm wide. The apex is gradually pointed or acute, and the base is broadly wedge-shaped or wedge-shaped. The leaf margins have irregular serrations, and the surface is smooth without hairs, while the back side has sparse short hairs along the veins. The inflorescence is a narrow panicle, slightly branched in the lower part, with sparse or slightly dense short hairs. The calyx has short hairs with 5 lanceolate lobes, measuring 6-8 mm long and 1-1.5 mm wide. The corolla is purple-blue, bell-shaped, and shallowly 5-lobed, measuring 1.5-1.8 cm long. There are 5 stamens. The filaments have dense soft hairs along the edges, and the disc is wide and cylindrical, nearly equal in length to the corolla. The fruit is nearly spherical and hairy, and it flowers from September to October.
【Distribution】
Artemisia selengensis is found in various regions, growing in grassy slopes. It is distributed in Henan, Shaanxi, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Guangxi provinces in China.
【Growth Environment】
The root of Artemisia selengensis is used medicinally, with similar effects to Artemisia scoparia. It is generally harvested from spring to late autumn. After the roots are dug up, they are washed with water and peeled, then dried in the sun. When used fresh, the harvested roots are stored in soil at a moderate temperature and taken as needed. It can also be propagated by seeds, but since the primary root grows straight, it is not suitable for division. It prefers loose and fertile soil.
【Clinical Applications】
1. For strengthening the body and treating excessive thirst:
- Shizi ji tang: Take one pig kidney, one liter of black soybeans, and one and a half liters of water. Cook until half the liquid remains. Remove the residue and add three taels each of Artemisia selengensis and gypsum, two taels each of ginseng, poria, magnetite, anemarrhena, kudzu root, scutellaria, platycodon root, and licorice. Cook the mixture until it becomes three liters. Divide into three doses and take.
- Ji wan: Take Artemisia selengensis, soybeans, poria, magnetite, platycodon root, cooked Rehmannia root, cortex eucommiae, scrophulariae, dendrobium, and deer antler, one tael each. Take half a tael each of ginseng and agarwood, grind them together, and mix with the mashed pig stomach. Form into pills about the size of a Wu zi (a type of fruit). Take seventy pills each time, on an empty stomach, and swallow with saltwater.
3. For treating carbuncles and abscesses:
- Drink the juice of fresh Artemisia selengensis roots and apply the residue to the affected area. Repeat three times to achieve healing.
4. For removing black spots on the face:
- Take one tael each of Artemisia selengensis and cinnamon, grind them finely. Take one teaspoon each time, and swallow with vinegar.
5. For treating poisoning from Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides:
- Take eight taels of Artemisia selengensis and six liters of water, and cook until it becomes three liters. Take five he of the liquid each time, five times a day.
- Artemisia selengensis can also be used to detoxify poisoning from Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides. Take eight taels of Artemisia selengensis and six liters of water, and cook until it becomes three liters. Take five he of the liquid each time, five times a day.
