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Polygonum multiflorum Thunb.
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English Name |
Tuber Fleece Flower, Multiflower Knotweed, Climbing Smartweed |
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Latin name |
Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. |
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Family & Genus |
Polygonaceae, Polygonum |
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Description |
Perennial winding vines. Roots slender, end into hypertrophy tuber, oblong and reddish-brown to dark brown. Winding stems 2-4m long, multi-branched with base slightly woody and hollow. Leaves alternate; petioles long, 1.5-3cm; Sheath membranous and oblique, brown; Leaves ovate or oblong, 4-8cm long, 2.5-5cm wide, apex acuminate, base cordate or sagittate, entire, dark green above, pale green below, glabrous on both sides. Large panicle apical or axillary. Bracts triangular-oval, each bract with 2-4 flowers; flowers small, 2mm in diameter, multiflorum, pedicel small and sectional, base has membranous bracts; perianth green to white and petaline, fivepartite; lobes oval, ranging in size, three outside large, winged at the back, expand on fruiting; stamens 8, shorter than perianth; pistil 1, ovary triangular, style very short, stigma tripartite with capitulum. Achenes oval, 3 ribbed, black, shiny, wrapped by persistent perianth, perianth distinctly 3-winged. Flowering: August to September. Fruiting: September to October. |
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Distribution |
Growing in grasslands, on roadsides, hillsides, rock crevices and bushes. Can be cultivated. Distributed in East and South Central China, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Taiwan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and other provinces. The medicinal materials are mainly produced in Henan, Guangxi, Hubei and other provinces. |
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Part Used |
Medical parts: tuber and cane. Chinese Name: Heshouwu (tuber); Yejiaoteng (cane). |
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Harvest & Processing |
Tuber: cut at both ends, washed, large one cut into pieces, and dried. Cane: after leaves removed, bundled up and dried. |
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Chemistry |
Contains emodin and so on. |
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Pharmacology |
Blood-lipid-lowering and anti-atherosclerosis, immunity-enhancing, aging-deferring, superoxide dismutase (SOD)-level-increasing, and antibacterial. |
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Properties & Actions |
Fresh: bitter, sweet, astringent, warm. Processed: bitter, sweet, astringent, warm. Yejiaoteng: sweet, normal.Fresh: detoxifying, dispersing abscesses, relaxing the bowels. Processed: Tonifying the liver and the kidneys, boosting essence and blood, hair darkening, sinew and bone strengthening. Yejiaoteng: nourishing the heart to tranquilize, dispelling wind to free the collateral vessels. |
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Indications & Usage |
Fresh fleeceflower root: used for scrofula, sores and anthracia, bastard measles and pruritus, constipation induced by dryness of the intestine, hyperlidemia. Prepared fleeceflower root: used for vertigo and tinnitus, early graying of beard and hair, relative weakness in the loins and knees, limb numbness, neurasthenia, hyperlipemia. Caulis polygoni multiflori: used for insomnia and dreaminess, hemopenia and physical pain, rheumatic arthralgia, externally treat skin itching.Unripe Heshouwu: oral administration: decocting, 30-60g; or prepared ointment, made as medicinal liquor, pills or powders. External application: appropriate amount, powdered for dusting or applying mixed, or decocted for washing. Use with caution in cases of loose stool and damp phlegm. Not in compatibility with ironware. Prepared Heshouwu: oral administration: decocting, 9-15g; prepared ointment, made as medicinal liquor, pills or powders. External application: decocted for washing, powdered for dusting or applying mixed. Not use in cases of loose stool and damp-phlegm. Yejiaoteng: oral administration: decocting, 10-20g. External application: appropriate amount, decocted for washing or smashed for applying. |
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Examples |
Fresh tuber fleece flower:
Wind toxin of colon, incessant bloody diarrhea: tuber fleece flower 20g, pestle and sieve into powder, swallow 3g with warm porridge before meals.
Prepared tuber fleece flower:
Pain of waist and knee, unable to walk, general pruritus: tuber fleece flower, select those which are big and with texture, two-toothed achyranthes (file) 500g each. Immerse into 1 sheng liquor for 7 nights, dry under the sun, pestle into powder in wooden mortar, and prepare honey pills. Swallow 30-50 pills with liquor on empty stomach before meals each day.
Caulis polygoni multiflori:
Armpit cellulitis: caulis polygoni multiflori, an appropriate amoung of Chinese fevervine leaves. Pestle and apply to the affected lesions. |
| Link to |
 Chinese Medicinal Material Images Database
Phytochemical Image Database
Chinese Medicine Specimen Database
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