The name "Tai Snake Sword" is the scientific name of the herb, which is "Andrographis paniculata".
Piercing heart lotus is also known as spring lotus and autumn willow, a glimpse of joy, eleuthero lotus, bitter bile grass, snake sword, cone beard herb, day walk, four sides of the lotus, gold herb, golden ear hooks, spring lotus and summer willow, Indian grass, bitter grass. It is the whole grass of Andrographis paniculata in the family of Jurassicaceae.
Annual herb of Andrographis paniculata, the whole herb is used for medicine, herb is square cylindrical, 50 to 70 cm long, nodes slightly expanded, brittle, easy to break. Single leaf opposite, nearly sessile, leaf blade more crumpled and broken, complete lanceolate or oblong, 3 to 12 centimeters long, 2 to 5 centimeters wide, the upper surface of the green, the lower surface of gray-green, smooth on both sides. It has a slight odor and a very bitter taste.
Andrographis paniculata is a perennial evergreen herb. The rhizome is short and thick, with numerous slender roots. Leaves are basal, tufted, with large, thick leathery, lanceolate blades, up to 30 centimeters long and 4?6 centimeters wide, dark green, with distinct parallel veins. Small, light greenish-white flowers in summer, borne in leafy clusters in spikes, berries spherical, vermilion when ripe.
This herb is more commonly used in the southern region, is very effective in the treatment of snake venom, the larger drugstores should have, authentic Chinese medicine clinics will also have, convenient if you can go to the store to ask, so more accurate.
The efficacy of Andrographis paniculata is not only used to solve the snake venom, it mainly has the efficacy of clearing away heat and detoxification, cooling the blood and reducing swelling. It can be used to treat acute bacillary dysentery, gastroenteritis, colds and flu, rheumatoid encephalitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, whooping cough, pulmonary tuberculosis, lung abscess, cholecystitis, hypertension, epistaxis, sore throat and mouth, sores and carbuncles, scalded by fire and water and venomous snake bites.