Houttuynia cordata profile

Houttuynia Cordata is the wort plant of the Wort plant.

Houttuynia Cordata picture

Houttuynia Cordata morphological characteristics

Houttuynia Cordata is a perennial herb, 30 ~ 50 cm high, and the whole plant has a fishy smell; Stem upper part is erect, often purplish red, lower prostate, small root whorled on the node. Leaves are alternate, thin papery, glandular, abaxially especially, ovate or broadly ovate, base cordate, entire, abaxially often purplish red, palmate veins 5 ~ 7, petioles 1 ~ 3.5 cm long, glabrous, stipules membranous 1 ~ 2.5 cm long, lower part conjoined with petioles into sheaths. Flowers are small, no perianth, arranged in spikes opposite to leaves, ca. 2 cm long, involucral bracts 4, at the apex of the pedicel, white, petal-like, stamens 3, filaments long, lower connate with ovary, pistil composed of 3 connate carpels. Capsule is subglobose, apex dehiscent, with persistent style. Seeds are numerous, ovate. Flowering period is from may to June and fruiting from October to November.

Houttuynia Cordata growth habits and distribution

Growth habits: Houttuynia Cordata likes wild in dank or waterside lowland, likes warm and humid environments, and avoids drought. Hardy. It is afraid of strong light, and can overwinter at -15℃. The fertile sandy loam and humus loam grow best and are not suitable for clay and alkaline soil.

Distribution scope of Houttuynia Cordata: native to the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River Basin in China, abundant wetlands, valley shade can also be overgrown. As early as in the late 1980s, Gaoping Town in Guanghan City, Sichuan province introduced field scale planting, which has led to nearly 10,000 acre of planting area in surrounding towns and villages, forming the largest ear root planting base in China at present. It is also grown in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hubei, Anhui, Fujian, Sichuan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Shaanxi and other places.

The reproduction method of Houttuynia Cordata

The propagation methods of Houttuynia Cordata can be divided into seed propagation, root propagation and plant propagation. Because the germination rate of seeds is not high, the germination rate is suitable for the temperature change of 17 ~ 25℃, while the germination rate is only about 20 {bf}, the root propagation is generally adopted. In the spring, dig out the roots from the old seedlings and cut the white and strong roots into 5 ~ 10cm long sections with 3 ~ 4 sections in each section. Plant the roots in rows with a spacing of 20cm×20cm in open holes. Lay the stems flat in the trench with soil covering 3 ~ 4cm, gently press them and water them to keep the soil moist.

The main use of Houttuynia Cordata

Ingredients: Houttuynia Cordata is also edible. It is often used to make salad Houttuynia Cordata, steamed chicken Houttuynia Cordata, scrambled egg Houttuynia Cordata and Fried shredded pork. In a word, Houttuynia Cordata is a commonly used seasoning in southern regions, and its leaves can also be eaten.

Medical use: The dry above-ground part of Houttuynia Cordata can clear heat and detoxify, reduce swelling. It has good treatment of lung heat, lung carbuncle has fever cough, cough rancid thick sputum, often with platycodon grandiflorum, reed, dandelion application, to strengthen the effect of expectoration. It can treat heat furuncle swelling, and can be used alone, decocting, or tamping with fresh products.