Spicy Polygonum (la four sound liao three sound), the name of Chinese medicine.

For the Polygonum family Polygonaceae plant water polygonum whole grass. Distributed in China's north and south provinces and regions. It has the efficacy of dispelling wind and dampness, dispersing blood stasis, relieving pain, detoxifying swelling, killing insects and relieving itching. Commonly used in dysentery, gastroenteritis, diarrhea, rheumatic arthralgia, bruises, swelling and pain, functional uterine bleeding and other diseases of the treatment; external use for snake bites, skin eczema.

Physiological properties

Annual herb, 40-70 cm tall. Stem erect, much branched, glabrous, nodes expanded. Leaves lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, 4-8 cm long, 0.5-2.5 cm wide, apical acuminate, base cuneate, margin entire, ciliate, both surfaces glabrous, covered with brown dots, sometimes with hispidulous ambiguous hairs along the midvein, pungent, leaf axils with closed fertilized flowers.

Petiole 4-8 mm long; ocrea cylindrical, membranous, brown, 1-1.5 cm long, sparsely hispidulous, apically truncate, ciliolate, usually with flower clusters in the ocrea.