Marble Gourd is a plant of the Osmundaceae family, and it can also be used as Chinese medicine. It has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, diuresis and dampness elimination, promoting blood circulation and stopping bleeding, and dispelling stasis and relieving pain. Another name for Marble Gourd is Osmunda japonica.
Marble Gourd is a tall plant. It has a tuberous rhizome that is large and spherical. The leaves are large, 1-3 pinnate, papery, with thick and long petioles, and two fleshy appendages (resembling horse hooves) at the base; the leaflets are oblong, 48 cm long and 20-30 cm wide, with a petiole about 6 cm long, brown in color; the pinnules are broadly lanceolate, almost opposite, with the basal pinnules about 10-12 cm long and the upper pinnules about 16-22 cm long and 3 cm wide. The sporangia are oblong, 2 mm long, close to each other, arranged in two rows along the back edge of the pinnules, brown in color. It grows in shady and damp places such as mountain streams and watersides. It is distributed in Yunnan, Guangxi and other places.
It is bitter and cold in nature.
Indications and Functions of Marble Gourd
It clears heat and detoxifies, stops bleeding, and eliminates dampness. It is used to treat enteritis, dysentery, abdominal distension caused by food stagnation, nephritis edema, pulmonary tuberculosis, hemoptysis, metrorrhagia, injuries, rheumatism, and gastric and duodenal ulcers.
Usage and Dosage of Marble Gourd
Orally: Decoction, 0.5-1 liang; or powdered.
