Siegesbeckia, a TCM medicine for eliminating wind damp

What is siegesbeckia(Xi Xian Cao)? It is a genus of Asteraceae and owns a few annual plants. When it is used as medicine, it actually means the dried aerial part of Siegesbeckia orientalis L., Siegesbeckia pubescens Makino, or Siegesbeckia glabrescens Makino. In China they are primarily produced in Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangsu. The best reaping time is summer and autumn before and during the blossom. Before used raw or steamed with Shaoxing wine, the impurities should be remove and they should be dried. And the high-quality one is with many leaves, thick gray-green stem, buds, and no roots and impurities.

Siegesbeckia orientalis is an annual herb, up to 1 meter or more. The upper part of branches, especially the inflorescence branches, is covered with purple-brown, capitate, and long-handle trichomes and white, long pubescence. Leaves are opposite and blade is thin, short-haired both sides, and with white long pubescence along the veins. Capitulum is 2 to 3 cm in diameter, many, and arranged in corymbose. Achene is about 3.5mm. Flowering times is from August to October and the fruiting time from September to December. Habitats are wood edge, forest, wilderness, and roadside.

Siegesbeckia benefits
It is native to Southeast Asia and adapts to hot, humid environments. So, medicinally what is siegesbeckia used for? Actually its medicinal history can be dated back to the Tang Dynasty, about 1,000 years ago. Then it was formally recorded in Xin Xiu Ben Cao (Newly Compiled Materia Medica) as a medicine mainly for eliminating wind-damp. And long before a few hundreds of years, the sap secreted by siegesbeckia leaves has been used by the ancient Chinese people to treat rheumatism. In recent years, it was found with an active ingredient that has aspirin-like structure. Currently, its calming and soothing effect are being used by the field of beauty.

Clinically siegesbeckia plant and Chou Wu Tong (Folium Clerodendri Trichotomi) are capable of treating rheumatism, rubella, Eczema, Urticaria, and pruritus. As a result, they are commonly used in pair to treat many ailments. However, they have their own advantage respectively. Siegesbeckia is still good at treating physical challenges like paralysis that commonly occur after stroke since it can get rid of wind-damp between the bones and muscles; Folium Clerodendri Trichotomi also treats dizziness and headache since it tranquilizes liver Yang.