Ground Ivy
This product is the dried whole herb of Euphorbia humifusa Willd. or Euphorbia maculata L., both from the spurge family. Harvested in summer or autumn, remove impurities, then sun-dry.
【Appearance】Often curled and shriveled; fine roots. Stems thin, forked branching, purple-red surface, smooth or sparsely covered with white fine hairs; brittle, easily broken, fracture is yellow-white, hollow. Opposite leaves, short reddish stalk or nearly stalkless; leaves mostly shriveled or fallen off, flattened out appear as elongated oval, 5–10mm long, 4–6mm wide; green or purplish-red, usually hairless or sparsely hairy; apex blunt, base asymmetric, margin with small serrations or slightly wavy. Axillary cup-shaped cymes, small. Capsule fruit three-angled spherical, smooth surface. Tiny seeds, oval, brown. No odor, slightly astringent taste.
Spotted ground ivy has red spots on upper leaf surface, capsule fruit covered with sparse white short hairs.
【Taste & Meridian Affinity】Pungent, neutral. Enters liver and large intestine meridians.
【Function & Indications】Clears heat and detoxifies, cools blood and stops bleeding. Used for dysentery, enteritis, hemoptysis, hematuria, melena, metrorrhagia, sores, carbuncles, and abscesses.
【Dosage & Administration】9–20g; fresh herb 30–60g; external use in appropriate amounts.
【Storage】Store in a well-ventilated, dry place.
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