What is the difference between large jinqiancao and small jinqiancao?
There are mainly two differences between large jinqiancao and jinqiancao. The first point: their leaf shapes are different. The leaves of large jinqiancao have a small amount of fine hairs and are ovate, while the leaves of small jinqiancao are broadly heart-shaped; the second point: after the leaves of large jinqiancao are soaked in water, black stripes can be seen on them, while small jinqiancao does not have them.
Large jinqiancao: also called shenxian duizuo cao, Sichuan large jinqiancao. It is Lysimachia christinae of the Primulaceae family.
Its effects: clearing heat and draining dampness, detoxifying and reducing swelling. It is also widely used for gallstones, bladder stones, kidney stones, jaundice, abdominal edema and distention, and nephritic edema. In Shanghai, among the people it is used for traumatic injuries, and in Sichuan it is used for external application on fractures.
Small jinqiancao: it is Dichondra repens of the Convolvulaceae family. It also has the effects of clearing heat, promoting diuresis, detoxifying, and invigorating blood. It can likewise treat jaundice, painful strangury with sand and stones, edema, and boils and toxic swellings, and is also used for dysentery.
As for the saying of large leaves and small leaves, there are several kinds of grass that people confuse with jinqiancao, and among them the one most confused at present is small-leaf jinqiancao, which is a confusion between Desmodium styracifolium and Dichondra repens. Merchants fabricate the claim that these two kinds of grass work for any kind of stone. In fact, if we look up the materials, it is not hard to find that Desmodium styracifolium is actually a leguminous plant from the high mountains of Yunnan, entering the liver, kidney, and bladder meridians, so its effect is to drain dampness and relieve jaundice, and to promote diuresis and treat strangury. This means that it has a supportive effect on jaundice and liver disease, and a diuretic effect on the kidneys and bladder, which leads people to use it for diuresis. Generally, small stones can be discharged through exercise, and drinking this Desmodium styracifolium together with chicken gizzard lining can also discharge tiny stones. This has led people to think that Desmodium styracifolium is a miracle drug for treating stones. It is ineffective for gallstones. If the stone is slightly larger, drinking it is useless, and it may even cause ureteral blockage.
Dichondra repens (small-leaf jinqiancao) enters the lung, liver, and large intestine meridians. That is to say, it has the effects of clearing heat, draining dampness, and detoxifying. It is commonly used for jaundice, dysentery, sand strangury, white turbidity, edema, boils and toxic swellings, traumatic injuries, and venomous snake bites. Looking at its meridians, it has not the slightest relationship with stones; it is only because it is related to sand strangury, which means that there is sand and stone flowing out during urination, that is, the human body discharges tiny stones on its own, and its detoxifying and dampness-draining effects can accelerate discharge. Like Desmodium styracifolium, if the stone exceeds 2 mm, using it has almost no effect.