Are Houttuynia root and houttuynia the same plant?
Houttuynia root, whose scientific name is houttuynia (Houttuynia cordata), can be used as medicine. It has a distinctive odor and is a major wild vegetable in Sichuan and Guizhou, especially loved by women, children, the elderly and the frail, and carries strong local character. Many people are not clear about whether Houttuynia root and houttuynia are actually the same plant, so let us take a look together below!
Is Houttuynia root the same as houttuynia?
Houttuynia root is actually houttuynia. Houttuynia, also known as dog-heart grass, Houttuynia root and dog-spot ear, is produced in the provinces south of the Yangtze River basin in China. As early as the late 1980s, Gaoping Town in Guanghan City, Sichuan, introduced field-scale cultivation, and it has now driven nearly ten thousand mu of planting area in surrounding townships, forming the largest Houttuynia root planting base in China at present.
Morphological characteristics of houttuynia
The stem of houttuynia is flat-cylindrical, twisted, 20-35cm long and 0.2-0.3cm in diameter, brownish-yellow on the surface, with several longitudinal ridges, obvious nodes, and residual fibrous roots on the lower nodes; it is brittle and breaks easily.
The leaves of houttuynia are alternate, curled and wrinkled, and heart-shaped when flattened, 3-5cm long and 3-4.5cm wide, with a gradually pointed tip and entire margins; the upper surface is dark yellow-green to dark brown, the lower surface grayish-green or grayish-brown, and the petiole is slender, with its base fused with the stipules into a sheath. The spike inflorescence is terminal and yellow-brown. When rubbed and crushed, it has a fishy odor.
How to eat houttuynia
Common ways to eat houttuynia include: cold-tossed houttuynia, steamed chicken with houttuynia, scrambled eggs with houttuynia, stir-fried shredded pork with houttuynia, braised pig lung with houttuynia, houttuynia congee, stir-fried houttuynia with cured meat, pig lung soup with houttuynia, and stir-fried cured pork with houttuynia. In short, houttuynia is a common seasoning in southern regions, and its leaves can also be eaten.
Efficacy and effects of houttuynia
[Nature and flavor] Pungent, slightly cold, non-toxic.
[Meridians entered] Liver and lung meridians.
[Efficacy] Clearing heat and detoxifying, reducing abscesses and expelling pus, promoting urination and reducing swelling, and treating strangury.
[Effects] Mainly used for conditions such as tonsillitis, pulmonary abscess, urinary tract infection, cough and asthma due to lung heat, malaria, edema, carbuncle swelling and sores, heat strangury, eczema, and rectal prolapse.