areca

【 Source 】 It is the dried and mature seed of Areca catechu, a palm plant.

[Plant Morphology] Trees. Feather compound leaves, clustered at the top of stem, up to 2m long, smooth and hairless, leaflets linear or linear-lanceolate, apex acuminate, or irregularly toothed. Spikes are born under leaf sheaths, with many branches and arranged in panicles, with large bracts in the form of spathe outside, which fall off after flowering; Flowers unisexual, monoecious, male flowers small, inserted at the top of spikelets, arranged in 2-lobed, calyx 3, petals 3; Stamens 6; The female flower is large, inserted at the base of spikelet, sessile, with 6 staminodes and superior ovary, 1 room. Nuts are ovoid or oblong, with persistent perianth segments, orange-red or crimson when mature, thick mesocarp, fibrous, containing 1 large seed. Flowers bloom twice a year, from March to August, and winter flowers do not bear fruit. The fruiting period is 165438+ 10 to February of the following year.

[Medicinal material properties] It is oblate or conical, with a height of1.5 ~ 3.5cm and a base diameter of1.5 ~ 3cm. The surface is yellow-brown or reddish-brown, with slightly concave net grooves, a round concave pearl hole in the center of the bottom, and 1 obvious scarred hilum next to it. Hard, not easy to break, with marbling pattern of brown seed coat and white endosperm in cross section. Slight gas, astringent taste, slightly bitter.

[Collection location] Chengdu Lotus Pond Medicinal Material Market.

Indications: Insecticidal, digestion promoting, qi lowering, water benefiting and malaria control. Can be used for treating tapeworm, ascaris lumbricoides, Fasciola zingiberensis, abdominal pain due to worm accumulation, diarrhea due to stagnation, acute diarrhea, edematous beriberi, and malaria. Betel nut paste helps digestion and leads to stagnation. Can be used for treating dyspepsia and diarrhea.