Half Lotus, also known as Jijiesuo and Sheli Cao, is a medicinal herb. It has a neutral nature and sweet taste, and it is known for its diuretic, anti-swelling, and detoxifying properties. It is used to treat jaundice, edema, bloating, diarrhea, dysentery, boils, tumors, ringworm, as well as swelling and pain from bruises and sprains. It can also be used for snake bites. The Compendium of Materia Medica states that it "detoxifies and reduces inflammation, promotes diuresis, generates blood and nourishes the skin. It is used to treat ascites, infantile convulsions, nipple discharge, lacquer sores, external bleeding, skin scabies, snake, bee, and scorpion bites." In the market, there are dried whole plants of the Genus Scutellaria, which are falsely sold as Half Lotus. It is important to be aware of this when using.
Authentic Half Lotus
The dried whole plant is often tangled together with its roots. The roots are slender, cylindrical, fleshy, and have a pale brownish-yellow smooth surface with fine longitudinal lines. They have fibrous roots. The stems are slender, branched, gray-green, with distinct nodes. Near the rhizome, they appear light purple with wrinkled longitudinal lines. Sometimes, there are residual adventitious roots on the nodes. The leaves are opposite, narrow and long, smooth on the surface without hairs, stemless, and often wrinkled or shed. The base of the flower is tubular, and the upper part of the flower has 5 lobes, tilted to one side, and light purple-red in color. The corolla tube has white hairs inside. It has a unique, slightly pungent smell and taste. When tasted, it is slightly sweet at first and then becomes spicy.
Counterfeit Scutellaria
It is often tangled together, with the main root elongated, vertically downward or shortened. The surface is pale yellowish-white, and the fibrous roots are slender and numerous. The stems are single or clustered, slightly quadrangular, pale green or yellow-brown, covered with short soft hairs, with distinct nodes, and fine longitudinal lines on the surface. The leaves are opposite or alternate, inverted egg-shaped to spoon-shaped, with a wedge-shaped base, extending downwards into a leaf stalk with wings, and irregular coarse teeth on the edges. The inflorescence is terminal, and the flowers are purple or blue with a labiate corolla. It has a slight fragrance and a bitter taste when tasted.
Modern pharmacological studies have confirmed that the injection made from Half Lotus has a significant and long-lasting diuretic and antihypertensive effect. Its decoction can shorten bleeding time and has a certain hemostatic effect. Research has also found that Half Lotus has inhibitory effects on certain pathogenic fungi. Clinical reports have shown that Half Lotus has a good therapeutic effect on advanced schistosomiasis liver cirrhosis ascites. Taking decoction of Half Lotus and applying a mashed Half Lotus externally have a good detoxifying effect and produce rapid results in the treatment of snake bites. Counterfeit Scutellaria, on the other hand, does not belong to the same plant family as Half Lotus and does not possess the above-mentioned therapeutic effects. Therefore, it cannot be used as a substitute for Half Lotus in clinical practice and careful identification is necessary.
