Buerger Pipewort Head

Primarily produced in the Chinese provinces of Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang.

Flower head is sub-spherical, 4~5mm diameter; base has scale-like pale yellow bracts, densely arranged in a plate-like shape; 30~40 small flowers, grayish-white, densely arranged, externally covered white thin powder; after hand-crushing, numerous black small granules and grayish-green small seeds can be seen. Below the flower head, one thin long stem is connected, 15~18cm long, lustrous. Soft texture, difficult to break. faint odor; tasteless, becomes a lump when chewed.

Superior medicinal material has large and tight ‘pearls’, grayish-white color, short yellowish-green stem, no roots, leaves or foreign matter.

Acrid, sweet; neutral.

Expels wind, clears heat, improves eyesight, removes superficial visual obstruction. Apply to visual obstruction, night blindness, head pain, teeth pain, throat impediment, epistaxis.

‘Gu jing zhu’: The flower head of E. sexangulare L, and E. australe R. Br, not formal medicinal material. Flower head is relatively small, 2~4mm diameter, grayish-yellow, more than 10 small flowers arranged relatively loosely, stem is thin and soft, some with leaves.