Tag Archives: Traditional Chinese Medicine

Wood-fern

The fern grows in valley thick forests, or on humid places along riverbanks. Distributed in Zhejiang, Taiwan, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan and Southeast Yunnan.  The whole part of fern is used for medicine. The fern is collected in summer and autumn and is sun-dried. Properties and actions include taste pungent, little bitter, neutral in nature, and removing wind and damp. It is ssed for colds, rheumatic arthralgia and dysentery, with oral administration of decocting, 9-15g. Examples: 1. Common cold due to wind coldness:…

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Chinese Fan Palm

Livistona chinensis is an evergreen, fan-leaved, solitary-stemmed palm tree growing up to 15 metres tall. The unbranched stem can be 20 – 30cm in diameter. The plants is both harvested from the wild and also cultivated for its leaves, which are widely used to make fans in China, as well as being used to make hats, brooms, raincoats etc. The plant is also widely grown as an ornamental in the tropics and subtropics. The leaves are used for making fans. They are also used for…

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Chinese fringe flower

Loropetalum chinense, commonly called Chinese fringe flower, is a white-flowered broad-leaved evergreen shrub of the witch hazel family. It is native to woodlands in China, Southeast Asia and Japan. It typically grows in a rounded multi-stemmed form to 6-10’ tall, but may over time rise to as much as 20’ tall. Alternate, ovate, dark green, evergreen leaves (to 2.5” long) have asymmetrical bases. Leaves are pale green and pubescent below. Brown shoots are pubescent. Lightly aromatic, spidery flowers bloom in clusters in spring (late March-April).…

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Schisandra Fruit

Schisandra is a plant. The fruit is used as food and also to make medicine. Schisandra is used as an “adaptogen” for increasing resistance to disease and stress, increasing energy, and increasing physical performance and endurance. Schisandra is also used for preventing early aging and increasing lifespan, normalizing blood sugar and blood pressure, stimulating the immune system, and speeding recovery after surgery. It is also used for treating hepatitis and protecting the liver from poisons. The Chinese have developed a liver-protecting drug called DBD that…

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Longan

The longan (龍眼, literally ‘dragon eye’), is so named because it resembles an eyeball when its fruit is shelled (the black seed shows through the translucent flesh like a pupil/iris). The seed is small, round and hard, and of an enamel-like, lacquered black. The fully ripened, freshly harvested fruit has a bark-like shell, thin, and firm, making the fruit easy to peel by squeezing the pulp out as if one were “cracking” a sunflower seed. When the shell has more moisture content and is more…

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Rose of Sharon

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, known colloquially as Chinese hibiscus, China rose, Hawaiian hibiscus, rose mallow and shoeblackplant, is a species of tropical hibiscus, a flowering plant in the Hibisceae tribe of the family Malvaceae. It is widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions, but is not known in the wild, so that its native distribution is uncertain. An origin in some part of tropical Asia is likely. The flowers of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis are edible and are used in salads in the Pacific Islands.[citation needed] The flower is…

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Myrobalan

Emblica exhibits strong antioxidant activity. It is one of the most important plants in the traditional Ayurvedic medical system as well as in other traditional health systems for immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antiulcer, hepatoprotective, and anticancer actions. However, there is very limited clinical evidence to support the use of emblica for any indication. The fruits contain a high concentration of ascorbic acid, which degrades with heating or cooking. In addition, they contain phenols, including ellagic acid, gallic acid, quercetin, kaempferol, corilagin, geraniin, furosin, gallotanins, emblicanins, flavonoids, glycosides,…

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Chinese Ixora

Ixora chinensis is a multi-stemmed, erect, evergreen shrub growing up to 2 metres tall, but more commonly less than 1 metre. The plant is harvested for local medicinal use. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental, valued especially for its long-lasting flowers. A decoction of the root is used after childbirth. A decoction is used against bronchial disorders. An infusion of the fresh flowers is said to be a remedy against incipient tuberculosis and haemorrhage. A decoction is prescribed in the treatment of amenorrhoea and…

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Ivy Tree

Generally, the spring and the summer are swarmed with flowers and fruits for most of the trees. However, Ivy Treehas made the difference. It chooses to grow the flowers in autumn and produce the fruits in winter, they become the main food sources in this season, flowers for insects and fruits for birds.   The native tree is co-existing with the ecological environment as well. The butterfly Pale Awlet takes Ivy Tree as its host plant. Winter butterflies are facing the problem of lacking of…

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Japanese Sacred

Rohdea japonica is a species of plant native to Japan, China and Korea. Common names include Nippon lily, sacred lily, and Japanese sacred lily. It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant with fibrous roots. The leaves are evergreen, broad lanceolate, 15–50 cm long and 2.5–7 cm broad, with an acute apex. The flowers are produced in a short, stout, dense spike 3–4 cm long, each flower pale yellowish, 4–5 mm long. The fruit is a red berry 8 mm diameter, produced in a tight cluster of several together. Medicinal use…

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