【Name】
【Source】
Newly Revised Materia Medica (Xin Xiu Ben Cao)
【Common Use Level】
D
【Botanical Origin】
The dried aerial part of *Artemisia anomala* S. Moore or *Siphonostegia chinensis* Benth.
【Appearance】
Southern Liu Ji Nu (Artemisia anomala) (Qi Hao): It is the whole plant with flowers. The stem is round, 60-90 cm long, usually bent, 2-4 mm in diameter, with a brownish-brown surface, often covered with white villous hairs, and has longitudinal rib striations. The stem is firm and hard, with a fibrous, yellowish-white fracture surface. Leaves are alternate, usually withered, shrunken, or fallen off. The surface is dark green, the back is gray-green, densely covered with white hairs, brittle and easily broken or fall off. Branchlets have small, densely clustered flowers in spikes, which are yellowish-brown in color. The flower heads are small, about 2 mm long and about 0.5 mm in diameter, covered with bracts and containing 6 tubular flowers, sometimes 7-8, but 1-2 of them are smaller in shape. The achenes are cylindrical. It has a slightly fragrant odor and a bland taste.
Northern Liu Ji Nu (Artemisia anomala) (Yin Xing Cao): The stem turns black after drying and is covered with short soft hairs; the leaves are opposite, pinnately deeply lobed; the capsules are oblong.
【Identification】
The best quality has green leaves without mold, yellow and numerous flower spikes that are not blackened, a dry body, red stems, and few impurities.
【Category】
Whole Herb