Text丨Heart beads are long, typesetting丨Heart beads are long
A few days ago, I accompanied my daughter to Kuangshan Park and saw such a Lamiaceae plant with light blue flowers and small flowers around the stem.
This characteristic is a bit like the summer solstice grass, but its leaves are more slender and the flowers are much larger. Later, I learned that it was a "thread-leaf muscle-bone grass".
When you look at the name, you feel that it is a plant of Chinese herbal medicine. Today, I'm going to talk to you about "Thread Leaf Muscle Bone Grass".
01
Linear leaf muscle and bone grass, Lamiaceae muscle bone grass is a perennial herbaceous plant. The stems are more erect and begin to branch on them.
The leaves are slender and long, 25-40 cm in height, and the flowers are not squeamish, and they grow quietly in a natural environment.
There are many in Kuangshan Park, some of which grow under large rocks, but the dry ground under your feet can bloom beautiful flowers.
Typical Lamiaceae, the stem is quadrangular, purplish-red or green, and the base of the stem is slightly lignified.
The leaves are alternately opposite, elongated, linear-lanceolate or linear, 4-9 cm long. There are some wavy teeth or notches on the edge of the blade. The base is narrowed, the petiole is not obvious, and even a little bit of a stem.
If you look closely, you can see that the edges of the leaves are a little longer pubescent, and the front and back of the leaves also have some rough hairs
The midrib of the leaf is deep, and it feels a little concave.
02
Its flowers, which grow in the leaf axils of the upper part of the stem.
It has the same characteristics as the Lamiaceae plants such as summer solstice grass and mint, and it circles around the stem. This is called a wheel inflorescence.
The closer you get to the top of the plant, the shorter the stem nodes will be, and the denser the circle of flowers will be.
Lip-shaped flowers, the upper lip is very short, a little straight, the lower lip looks wider, and the appearance of a flower is mostly supported by the lower lip.
The lower lip is 3-lobed, and the middle lobe is fan-shaped.
The corolla is pale blue or white in color, and there are some blue spots near the center of the flower.
The calyx is funnel-shaped, and there are many pubescent margin hairs on the teeth of the sepals.
There is a lot of hair on the stems, leaves, and flowers of the line-leaved muscle-bone grass, and the whole tree is hairy. This is especially true when the flower buds are exposed, but have not yet opened.
The flowering period is April-May, when I took these pictures, it was the beginning of April, and I didn't go for a few days, so I don't know if there is any fruit.
In fact, there is no need to rush to see it, the information says that sometimes, in November, it will still bloom and bear fruit.
The characteristics of most mountain plants, as long as the conditions are suitable, are busy flowering and fruiting, completing their own life cycle, this kind of life is really admirable.
03
The name of the line-leaf muscular bone grass with the word "muscle and bone" will inevitably make people think of its use, whether it has anything to do with the muscles and bones.
After checking the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia", the Chinese medicine muscles and bones grass is a dried whole herb of the Lamiaceae plant muscles and bones grass, which clears heat and detoxifies, cools blood and reduces swelling.
Musculoskeletal grass
【Sexual taste and return to the scriptures】Bitter, cold. Return to the lung meridian.
【Function and Indications】Clear away heat and detoxify, cool blood and reduce swelling
——Chinese Pharmacopoeia
It doesn't seem to have much to do with hurting muscles and bones, but it seems to have something to do with it.
Herbs, the same herbs, different compatibility, different dosages, the results may be very different.
When investigating its usefulness, in a book on insects, "Juvenile Hormone and Insect Metamorphosis", it is written that the development of insecticides can interfere with the principle of insect molting, which mentions "thread-leaf muscle-bone grass", saying:
Ajugalactone, which is contained in Certophyllum vulgaris, also has anti-molting activity.
In this way, can it be used to develop biopesticides? There is a long way between theory and practical application.
In fact, it is enough for us ordinary people to know it, know a little bit of its characteristics, and call its name accurately.
Well, that's a little bit of my understanding of the line-leaf muscle.
The high-value mountain grass, I only got to know it this year, and the fruit has not yet been observed. The flowers alone give people enough small luck.
About the Author
Heart-Beads: Intermediate Agronomist, Plant Lover. Welcome to "Wandering Grass and Trees" to share plant knowledge and experience the beauty of the countryside. The heart of grass and trees, the taste of the countryside, savoring, wandering!