What Does Great Burnet Look Like? A Full Guide to the Harvest Season of This Rosaceae Plant
Great burnet, also known as Huangzhua Xiang and Yuzha, is a perennial herb that often grows in grasslands, meadows, hillside grasslands, thickets, open woods, roadsides or field edges. It prefers a warm, humid climate and is cold-tolerant. So what does great burnet look like? When is the harvest season?
What does great burnet look like?
When great burnet blooms, its spike-like inflorescence is oval, cylindrical or ovoid, upright, usually 1-3 cm long, and the small purplish-red flowers open from the top of the inflorescence downward. Its flowering and fruiting period is July to October.
However, the medicinal part of great burnet is not the above-ground plant, but its underground root.
After the underground parts are all dug out, cut open the earthworm-like fibrous roots and a yellow inner layer is revealed. It is said that if it is combined with honeysuckle, its ability to cool the blood and stop bleeding will be even greater, making it a perfect match that prevents bleeding; if it is combined with Atractylodes lancea, it will dry dampness and purge fire, sparing the spleen and stomach from suffering……
And what many people care about is how to use great burnet to treat facial burns and scalds? In fact, to treat skin ulceration, it is best to combine great burnet with calcined gypsum. But remember, for patients with large-area burns, it must never be used too much, as it will cause poisoning.
When is the harvest season for great burnet?
Great burnet is a Chinese medicinal material made from the root and rhizome. It can be harvested in both spring and autumn, but the most suitable time is before sprouting in spring, because in early spring the medicinal plant is preparing to sprout, and the large amount of nutrients stored in the rhizome has not yet decomposed or has only just begun to decompose, so the content of active ingredients is highest, the nutrients are richest, and the quality is best.
Note that it is dug up in spring when it is about to sprout or in autumn after the plant withers, then the fibrous roots are removed, it is washed clean and dried, or sliced fresh and dried.
In addition, great burnet is mainly produced in Northeast China as well as Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places; Sanguisorba officinalis var. longifolia is mainly produced in Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and other places. When buying, it is also important to check the place of origin.