Natural“Big Medicine Chest”

Tian+Mei

When you go the Chinese medicine shop to buy medicine， you will see the rows of the drawers of dry， flat， colorful medicine， which are mystery. Where are these mysterious medicinal materials from？ Some of them a quite close to our life， if you go for a walk to the wetland， perhaps you can see their “real body”.

Gorgon euryale seed

The "tonic" among thorns

In the “Shennongs Herbal” early in the Han dynasy， "Gordon euryale seed" is listed as one of top grade. The Gordon Euryale seed is more delicious than ginseng， it is rich in starch and tastes sweet. Such a delicious food wont be missed by people who loves eating. There is even a term in Chinese cuisine—“dressing with Gordon Euryale seed”， for people initially used Gordon eurale to thiken. In mixed congee， you can also see the figure of Gorgon Euryale seed.

However， if you really go to find these small white fat， it takes some efforts. The acupunctures of the whole body is shocking enough. Stinging leaves， stinging stems and stinging flowers， in the late September， the blossoms close and become into the stinging fruits， the real Gordon Euryale seed will come. There are sharp sepals around the round fruit， which wears heavy spikes， just like a foxnut， the Gordon Euryale known as “chicken head rice” is wrapped in it. There are so many thorns that its easy to be tied to peel， without tools， the shoes are useful. You can use your shoe sole to ravage the thorns， until they are soft， then peel the skin from the position of sepals. You can see the seeds embedded in the bead. Taste it， slightly sweet， a little acerbity， finish eating it， drink some water， you will taste the matchless sweet.

Houttuynia cordata

The “fishy” fashion of

medicine and food

To know about houttuynia cordate， there is a simple way， pick a piece of leaf and triturate it， then smell——just a wisp of flavor will make you feeling as in the fish market， the fishy smell on your hands will keep for a long time， then you will know about the plant and impressive. Although the flavour is annoying， the whole grass can be used as a medicine， with the effect of heat-clearing and detoxifying， diuresis detumescence. In late spring or early summer， it blossoms， there will be four pieces of white “petals”， the “petals” are actually the variation of leaf， the short bars on the “petals” are its thick flower. On the Chinese dinning table， the houttuynia cordate becomes a kind of food popular in southwest China. The houttuynia cordates cold and dressed with sause is crisp and slightly astringent， the fishy smell is mixed with the flavor of the ingredients， hitting the palate and nasal cavity. As coriander， its unique scent is caused by the aldehydes. The scientists found that the houttuynia cordate contains carcinogenic aristolochic lactam， but many foodies still like it.

Calamus

Good smell

Beside the stream water， if you are wary， you will notice the patches of green leaves in the water. They breath fresh， smell good， that is the calamus. The calamus plant is slim and graceful， the leaf is tall and straight as a sword， so they also have a name “calamus sword”， as they are close to water， also called “water sword”. Its more visual that there is an obvious vein on the sword-like leaves， just as the ridge.

Hirudo

Let the blood flow

Many people hate leech， but in traditional Chinese medicine， leeches are traditional medicine of long history， it is said that leeches could dredge blood vessels， eliminate the bruising. The modern medicine has found that the hirudin in leeches saliva is by far the strongest natural blood agent. Leech lives in the water， its quite usual to see leeches in the wetland. If you find this little devil adsorbing on your skin， keep calm and take a deep breath， then gently pat it to make it drop， you can also use alcohol， salt water or cooling oil to smear on it and let it naturally drops.

More often， these guys are always silent to suck full of blood， leaving only the wounds of the triangle， as if to say， leeches "have come and have a bit". The bite wound may bleeding in a period of time， in red color， but dont worry，this is the result ofhirudin. If you dont feel at ease， you can wash the wound with medical alcohol， then use a clean gauze compressing the wound to stop the bleeding.

Pearl

Pain in behind， glorious

and dazzling

As early as 4000 years ago， there has been the record about clam producing pearls. When a fine or a parasite inadvertently goes into the mussel， and failed to be discharged timely， or the clam itself is stimulated， and recognizes some cell in its body as “foreign”， the clams somatic cells will secrete pear quality， wrapping the foreign in layers： a pearl is formed in the clams pain gradually. Since each layer of pearl is very thin， a pearl is stacked up by thousands of pearl layers， taking 3-6 years to form. As the natural pearl is rare and hard to find， people rely on artificial aquaculture of the hyriopsis cumingii and cristaria picata in freshwater to produce pearls， meeting the needs of the market as decoration and ornamental jewelry， in the ancient times， pearl also has medicinal value. The ancient women love to whiten raise colour with pearl powder， trying to stay young. Today there are a lot of cosmetics contain pearl ingredients， whether really effective， at least the women feel good in their heart.

The “medicine sage” observes the pangolin at the waterside

Talking about traditional Chinese medicine， we must talk about Li Shizhen， he crossed mountains and rivers， tasted all kinds of flora， took nearly 30 years in writing the book “compendium of material medica”， and is regarded as “medicine sage”.

As writing about "pangolin"， he read about the records of the physician Tao Hongjing of Jin dynasty： the pangolin will expand the scales and play dead， enticing ants to reunite， then it closes the scales and enters the water， it opens the scales again， so that the ants float on the water surface， then the pangolin swallow the ants. Li Shizhen didnt believe entirely in this， he followed the hunter to capture pangolins， through dissection， he affirmed that it did feed on ants； but he waited at the waterside and in the forest for many days and founded that the pangolin didnt eat ants in the water， but to find a nest and stretch its long tongue in to “mop-up”. However， the pangolins turning up in the “compendium of material medica” brought them disaster. The Chinese peoples crazy demands for medicinal and edible of pangolin caused serious abuse and trafficking， leading to the sharply decrease of number of 8 kinds of pangolin in the world， the Chinese pangolin has become endangered species. Its hoped that we can have more protection ideas of wildlife， and the figure of pangolin appear again in the wild.