Alias platinum bar [lateral root name], white dragon beard [whisker root name], octagonal king, octagonal phoenix tree, octagonal general, cutting tongue, pentagonal maple, heptagonal maple, wild tung tree and corolla wood.

The source is Alangium chinense (Lour.) Rehd. and Cucurbita A. Platanifolium (Sieb. et Zucc.) Harms. The lateral roots, fibrous roots, leaves and flowers are used as medicine. Roots can be harvested all year round. After digging out, sediment is removed, lateral roots and fibrous roots are cut off and dried. Pick leaves and flowers in summer and autumn, and dry them for later use or fresh use.

Original form

1. Chinese melon wood: deciduous shrub or small tree, 4 ~ 5 meters high. Bark is grayish yellow, smooth, branchlets are round, grayish yellow, with yellowish or brown coarse hairs, and lenticels are not obvious. Simple leaves alternate, stipitate; The leaf shape varies greatly, usually oval, round or oval, with a length of 5 ~18cm and a width of 4 ~12cm. The apex is long, the base is oblique, flat and slightly heart-shaped, the whole edge is more or less 3 ~ 5-lobed in the upper part, there are 5 main veins, and there are often axillary tufts of veins below. White flowers bloom in summer and autumn, and gradually become milky yellow; 3 ~15 or even more than 30 flowers form axillary thyrses, the peduncle is 6 ~15 mm long, and the pedicel is densely hairy; Calyx is bell-shaped, with cilia at the mouth edge, and calyx teeth are 6 ~ 8; Petals alternate with calyx teeth in the same number, strip-shaped, often rolled back from the top; Stamens are as many as petals, equal in length, filaments are thick and short, flat, densely hairy, anthers are strip-shaped, three times as long as filaments, and the disk is round and located on the roof; The ovary is inferior, 2-loculed, with ovules/kloc-0 per locule, slender style and 3-lobed stigma. Drupe ovoid, about 1 cm long, black when ripe, with persistent calyx teeth and disk at the top. Seed 1 grain. Born in Shan Ye roadside, bushes or miscellaneous forests. Distributed in Shaanxi, Gansu, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and other provinces.

2. Cucurbita: It is very similar to Cucurbita, but the leaves are usually obviously 4 ~ 7-lobed, with a heart-shaped base and sparse hair below. There are few flowers on the inflorescence, usually 2 to several. Mature drupes are smaller. Born on the edge of mountain forest. Distributed in Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Taiwan Province, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and other provinces.

Pungent in nature, slightly warm. Toxic.

Function indications: expelling wind and removing dampness, relaxing tendons and activating collaterals, removing blood stasis and relieving pain. Used for rheumatic arthralgia, traumatic injury and schizophrenia.

Usage and dosage: lateral root1~ 3 money, the dosage is gradually increased from small to large, so do not overdo it; Fibrous roots generally do not exceed 1 money, and should be taken after meals.

Watch out for poison! Pregnant women should not take it, and children and the elderly and infirm should use it with caution.

remarks

(1). The whisker root (white dragon whisker) of Acer truncatum is highly toxic, with dizziness and weakness in light poisoning and death due to respiratory depression in severe cases. In the rescue, artificial respiration should be considered first, and other symptomatic treatments should be timely. When used as a muscle relaxant, it should be carried out in a hospital with rescue conditions.

(2) It is reported to try 2 ounces of star anise maple leaves, which are decocted in water and taken in the morning and evening. It has a certain curative effect on infiltrative pulmonary tuberculosis.

Excerpt from "National Compilation of Chinese Herbal Medicine"