Meng E, the author of the world's earliest monograph on dietotherapy, a famous doctor and dietotherapy scientist in the Tang Dynasty, spoke highly of hen's head, saying that it can "benefit the five internal organs and wash away the evil spirits between the spleen and stomach, and all kinds of evil heat and poison."
A famous cursive script "Rihuazi Materia Medica" in the Five Dynasties records that it can "remove abdominal pathogens, warm the spleen and stomach, and dredge the small intestine." In Yi Yan, a famous pharmaceutical work in the Northern Song Dynasty, the reputation of benefiting the large intestine was directly added to the hen's head, which was called "benefiting the large intestine"
It is worth mentioning that chicken head is also a good dietotherapy method to treat a kind of stone. According to modern practical Chinese medicine, it can "treat uric acid bladder stones." Suzhou Medical College Edition "Handbook of Chinese Herbal Medicine" also records a compound prescription for the treatment of bladder stones: fresh southern alfalfa, 3 to 5 ounces, pounded with juice.
There is also a Chinese medicine called southern alfalfa for hen head. Note that this is a little different from what you said about alfalfa. Alfalfa in the south is generally a traditional Chinese medicine rich in the south of China, and another is from the north, with different effects.
Extended data:
Southern alfalfa (Medicago polymorpha L.) is an annual or biennial herb with a height of 90 cm, belonging to Leguminosae, also known as chicken head. The stem is nearly quadrangular, the base is branched, the leaves are oval and oblong, the apex is gradually pointed, the base is ear-shaped, the edge is irregularly split, and the veins are obvious; The petiole is slender and soft, the inflorescence is umbrella-shaped, the total pedicel is axillary, slender and hairless, the bracts are very small, and the tail is pointed; Calyx teeth are lanceolate, corolla is yellow, flag petal is obovate, wing petal is oblong, ovary is oblong, seed is kidney-shaped, it blooms in March-May and bears fruit in May-June.
It is distributed in various provinces and regions south of the Yangtze River basin in China, as well as Shaanxi, Gansu, Guizhou, Yunnan and other places. Usually cultivated or semi-wild. Distributed in southern Europe, southwest Asia and the whole old world, and introduced to America and Oceania.
Reference source: Baidu Southern Alfalfa Encyclopedia