Detailed Explanation of the Key Technical Points for Introducing and Cultivating Gynura segetum

Gynura segetum (Lour.) Merr. is a plant in the Asteraceae family, also known as Japanese gynura, white panax notoginseng, blood-dispersing herb, blood-dispersing elixir, blood-breaking elixir, blood peony, etc., and its traditional Chinese medicine name is tu san qi. Its tuberous roots or the whole plant are used medicinally, with effects such as promoting blood circulation, reducing swelling, detoxifying, dispersing blood stasis, and stopping bleeding. It is mainly used for traumatic injuries, carbuncles, sores, and ulcers, venomous snake bites, external bleeding, hematemesis, hematuria, hemafecia, functional uterine bleeding, and other conditions. It is mainly produced in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, and other places, and is rarely cultivated in the north. The author introduced and cultivated it successfully, and the cultivation techniques are described below.

1 Botanical Characteristics

Perennial herbaceous plant, about 1 m tall; the perennial root is fleshy and enlarged, round and block-shaped, with a soil-brown surface, bearing tumor-like protrusions and fibrous roots, and with stem bases or bud scars at the apex. The stem is erect, with longitudinal grooves, purplish red when young, and hairless at the base. Basal leaves are clustered, serrate or pinnately parted, dark green above and purple-green beneath, with short hairs on the veins on both surfaces; leaves alternate, pinnately parted, lobes ovate to lanceolate, with shallow lobes or coarse serrations at the margins; both surfaces of the leaf blade are smooth and hairless; stipules 1 pair, 3-5 shallowly lobed. The capitula are arranged in a corymb, sparsely borne at the stem tips; involucral bracts are linear, green, tubular or bell-shaped; the corolla is tubular, yellow, with tubular florets, 5-lobed, lobes linear, apex acute; flowers bisexual, stamens 5, anthers united, pistil 1, ovary inferior, stigma forked, subulate, with short hairs. The achenes are small and linear, with ridges on the surface. The flowering period is September to October.

2 Biological Characteristics

It prefers a warm, humid environment and loose, fertile sandy loam soil. It has low requirements for soil, but waterlogged, low-lying land and clay soil are not suitable for cultivation. It is not cold-tolerant.

3 Land Preparation and Fertilization

Select land suitable for cultivation, apply 3000-5000 kg of farmyard manure per mu, crush it finely and spread it evenly, plow deeply to 20 cm, harrow finely and level, and make beds 1 m wide for later use.

4 Propagation Methods

4.1 Rhizome propagation: Plant at the end of March to early April each year. Select robust, disease-free rhizomes, cut them into small pieces, and each rhizome piece must have 2-3 buds; after cutting, dry the cut surfaces or mix them with plant ash before planting. After the seed rhizomes are cut, open furrows 6-10 cm deep in the prepared beds at a row spacing of 35-40 cm, place the cut rhizomes in the furrows at a plant spacing of 20-25 cm with the bud tips facing upward, cover with soil, and press flat. Pit planting at the above row spacing may also be used. Seedlings emerge about 15 days after planting. In dry weather, water the beds first, and plant after the water has seeped down to ensure the survival rate.

4.2 Cutting propagation: In the high-temperature, rainy season from June to July, select robust, disease-free branches, cut them into small sections 10-15 cm long, remove the lower leaves, keep 2-4 leaves at the upper end, dry them slightly, and insert them obliquely into sandy soil, leaving about 5 cm above the soil surface. After cutting, keep the soil moist. At a temperature of 22-30°C, they will root in about 2 weeks, and can be transplanted 2 weeks after rooting. The row spacing for transplanting is the same as for rhizome propagation. The rhizomes grown from cuttings are relatively small; large rhizomes can be used as medicine, and small ones can be used as seed rhizomes the following year.

5 Field Management

After planting, water on time to prevent drought. After the seedlings emerge completely, cultivate and weed on time. During the vigorous growth period, apply 1 topdressing of human and livestock manure water, or apply 20 kg of urea per mu. During the rainy season, prevent water accumulation in the field, and drain promptly after rain to prevent rhizome rot.

6 Pest and Disease Control

Gynura segetum has relatively few pests and diseases. The main pests are cutworms and aphids. When cutworms occur, spray with trichlorfon technical material prepared as a 1:100 solution, or use 50 g of 50% phoxim mixed with 5 kg of chopped fresh grass to make poisoned bait for trapping and killing; when aphids occur, spray with 40% dimethoate emulsifiable concentrate at 1000-1200 times dilution.

7 Harvesting and Processing

Harvest in mid-to-late October of the planting year. At harvest, first cut off the aboveground stems, dig out the tuberous roots, remove the xylem from the tubers, shake off the soil, dry until semi-dry, then rub off the fibrous roots, and dry in the sun for medicinal use.

8 Storage of Seed Rhizomes

In the north, Gynura segetum seed rhizomes are best stored in cellars, with the cellar temperature controlled at 0-5°C. When storing, place them with the apical buds facing upward, one layer of sand and one layer of rhizomes, and after stacking 4-5 layers, cover with sandy soil. Check regularly to prevent heating and mildew.