Mi Meng Hua (Old Mi Meng Hua) (Dense paniculate clusters of short, club-shaped flower buds, grayish-brown, densely covered with rusty-colored short hairs, soft)

Mi Meng Hua (New Mi Meng Hua) (Edgeworthia chrysantha, spherical, bright)nn Old Mi Meng Hua New Mi Meng Huann【Naming】n

Mi Meng Hua

n 【Source】n

Song Dynasty Kaibao

n 【Frequency of Use】n

E

n 【Botanical Origin】n

The dried flower spike or flower bud of Buddleia officinalis Maxim. of the Loganiaceae family.

n 【Characteristics】n

Mostly gathered into inflorescences, a few are scattered individually, usually in clumps. Individual flower buds are short and club-shaped, 3~5~10㎜ long and about 15㎜ in diameter. The calyx is campanulate and four-lobed, and the corolla is tubular, with a rounded and slightly enlarged apex. The entire surface is densely covered with rusty-colored short hairs. In mature flowers, the corolla apex is four-lobed, and the lobes are arranged in an imbricate manner, ovate, about 2~3㎜ long, with a blunt and rounded apex. There are four stamens, which are attached to the corolla tube and alternate with the corolla lobes. The ovary is superior, with a single style and a bifid stigma. The ovary has two chambers, containing numerous ovules. It has a faint odor and a pungent fragrance.

n 【Identification】n

The best quality is characterized by densely clustered flower buds with villi and few branch stems. In the Taiwan market, the substitute New Mi Meng Hua is mainly used, and the genuine Old Mi Meng Hua is rarely available.nOld Mi Meng Hua is the dried flower bud of the aforementioned Buddleia officinalis of the Loganiaceae family, while New Mi Meng Hua is the dried flower bud of Edgeworthia chrysantha Lindl. of the Thymelaeaceae family. Both are used as “Mi Meng Hua” in prescriptions. The main differences between the two are shown in the table below:

nProduct NamenSummary Old Mi Meng Hua (Mi Meng Hua)nBuddleia officinalis New Mi Meng Hua (Edgeworthia Flower)nEdgeworthia chrysanthanSingle Flower Color Surface Grayish-Yellow Brown Light YellownSize Length 3~5~10㎜ Length 6~8㎜nPilosity Densely covered with yellow or grayish-white short hairs. Densely covered with yellow, light yellow, or grayish-white silky lustrous long hairs, with a length of about 1㎜.nPerianth Calyx campanulate, corolla tubular, inner flower tube purplish-red brown or brown. No petals, calyx tubular, apex 4-lobed and petal-like, inner flower tube yellow or yellowish-brown, but never purplish-red brown.nStamens 4, in one whorl. 8, in two whorls.nInflorescence Shape Cyme, with a clustered appearance. Head-shaped inflorescence.nSize Extremely uneven, small clusters of several flowers, large ones up to hundreds of flowers, diameter up to 3.5㎝. Uniform, usually dozens of flowers in a cluster, diameter about 2㎝.nFlower Axis Mostly straight, never hook-shaped curved Hook-shaped curved.nn【Category】n

Flowers

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