Is Chinese Daliangjiang the same as Tu Liangjiang?Tu Liangjiang is the rhizome of the plant Amomum villosum in the Zingiberaceae family. Amomum villosum is distributed in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Tibet, and also in Nepal. It is different from Chinese Daliangjiang.
Amomum villosum is a perennial herbaceous plant with a height of up to 1m. It has rhizomes in the form of clusters. The leaves are stalkless or have a stalk that is 1-1.5cm long; the leaf sheath is 1.5-2.5cm long, membranous, and entire; the leaf blade is oblong or lanceolate, 10-40cm long and 4-12cm wide, with no hairs on both sides or sparsely covered with long soft hairs on the lower side. The spike-like inflorescence is about 20cm long; the bracts are oblong, about 2.5cm long, with one flower in each bract; the calyx tube is 3-3.5cm long; the corolla is yellow, with a tube that is 5-6.5cm long and lobes that are linear and 2.5cm long; the degenerate staminodes are spoon-shaped and white, slightly longer than the corolla lobes; the labellum is ovate and 2.5-3cm long, deeply 2-lobed, white or yellowish, and the stamens are pale red and shorter than the labellum. The capsule is globose, about 1.5cm in diameter, and splits into 3 segments when mature. It flowers from June to July and fruits from October to November.
The efficacy of Tu Liangjiang
Flavor: pungent, bitter; Nature: warm
Meridians entered: Spleen, Stomach
The functions of Tu Liangjiang
Main functions: Warming the middle and regulating Qi, relieving pain. It is mainly used for stomach cold pain, indigestion, and knee joint pain.
