Dropwort -------- Commonly known as Mullein

(Scientific name: Basella alba?L.) is an annual twining herb in the family of the Dropwort, genus Dropwort. Stem fleshy, up to several meters long, glabrous, leaf blade ovate or suborbicular, apical acuminate, base slightly cordate or rounded, petiole grooved. Spikes axillary, bracts very small, caducous; tepals light red or lavender, ovate-oblong, filaments short, white, anthers yellowish; fruit spherical, blooming May-September, fruiting July-October.

Native to tropical Asia. China's north and south are planted all over the world, the south has escaped into the wild.

Leaves contain a variety of vitamins and calcium, iron, cultivated as a vegetable, but also ornamental. The whole grass for medicinal purposes, as a laxative, has the effect of slippery bowel, heat dissipation, facilitate urination and defecation; flower juice has blood cleansing and detoxification effect, can solve the pox, external treatment of carbuncle poison and nipple rupture. The juice can be used as a harmless food coloring agent.

Chinese Literature Name

Fallen sunflower