This product is the dried mature seeds of Plantago asiatica L. or Plantago depressa Willd. in the family of Plantago. The ears are harvested in summer and fall when the seeds are ripe, dried in the sun, rubbed out of the seeds, and impurities removed. Plantago depressa is also known as psyllium. Characteristics of this product is elliptic, irregular oblong or triangular oblong, slightly flat, about 2mm long, about 1mm wide. surface yellow-brown to black-brown, with fine wrinkles, one side of the gray-white concave dotted umbilicus. The texture is hard. Gas slightly, taste faint. Sexual flavor and attribution of sweet, slightly cold. Attributed to the liver, kidney, lung and small intestine meridians. Functions and Indications: Clearing heat and inducing diuresis, seeping dampness and opening gonorrhea, brightening the eyes and expelling phlegm. It is used for edema and distension, heat drenching and astringent pain, summer dampness and diarrhea, redness and swelling of the eyes, phlegm-heat cough. Usage and dosage 9~15g, into the decoction should be packet decoction. Store in a dry and ventilated place, protected from moisture. SEMEN PLANTAGINIS Source This product is the dried mature seeds of Plantago asiatica L. or Plantago depressa Willd. When the seeds are ripe in summer and fall, harvest the ears, dry them in the sun, rub out the seeds, and remove the impurities. Preparation method Salt psyllium seeds: take the net psyllium seeds, according to the brine-roasting method (Appendix II D) fried until the sound of bursting, sprayed with brine, fried dry. The surface of this product is dark brown or yellowish brown. Gas slightly fragrant, taste slightly salty. According to the above method under the acid insoluble ash determination, not more than 3.0%; according to the method under the expansion of the determination, should not be less than 5.0. Characteristics of this product was oval, irregular oblong or triangular-oblong, slightly compressed, about 2mm long, about 1mm wide, the surface of the yellowish-brown to black-brown, with fine wrinkles, one side of the gray-white concave dotted umbilicus. The texture is hard. Slight gas, light flavor. Identification (1) Psyllium powder dark yellowish brown. The outer epidermal cells of the testa are square or slightly tangential to the extension of the cross-section view, the cell wall mucilaginous. Seed coat endodermal cells surface view class rectangular, diameter 5 ~ 19 μm, about 83 μm long, thin-walled, microwave-like, often for mosaic arrangement. Endosperm cell wall is very thick, full of fine powdery grains. (2) Take 0.1g of this product, add 3ml of water, shake, leave for 30 minutes, filter, add 3ml of dilute hydrochloric acid to the filtrate, boil for 1 minute, cool, adjust the pH to neutral with sodium hydroxide, add 1ml of alkaline copper tartrate solution, heat in a water bath to produce a red precipitate. Remarks: It is used in treating the symptoms of damp-heat downward injection, urinary dripping and astringent pain, and is often used in combination with Mutong and Talc. For oedema, urinary incontinence and other diseases, also has a significant effect, for clinical use, mainly used for the real disease; such as kidney edema, can be used with ripened glutinous rice, cinnamon, epimedium, hyssop and so on. Treatment of damp-heat diarrhea, the symptoms of light, can be used alone, the more serious can be used with Poria, poria, zejiao, coix seed and so on. For eye redness, swelling and pain or blurred eyes, it can be used with chrysanthemum, cassia seed and green box if the eye redness, swelling and pain is caused by inflammation of liver fire, or with Radix Rehmanniae Praeparata and Semen Cuscutae if the eye redness and pain is caused by insufficiency of liver and kidney, and the eyes are blurred and tearing in the wind. For lung-heat cough is more appropriate, can be used with almonds, Platycodon grandiflorum, Suzi and other phlegm cough medicine.