1. Alias

Purple backed sky sunflower seeds, thousand year old mouse droppings, wild black head, earth ding seeds, sky sunflower roots.
2. Plant morphology
Perennial small herb. The outer layer of the root tuber is brownish black. The stem is upright, with 1-3 branches and sparse white soft hairs on the upper part. The basal leaves are trifoliate compound leaves, with the petiole and stem expanding into a sheath shape. The leaves are round or kidney shaped, and the leaflets are fan-shaped or inverted rhombic. They are deeply lobed, with no hair on both sides and often purple below. The petioles of the leaflets are short and have fine soft hairs; The stems and leaves are small and alternate. The flower has a solitary leaf axil, the flower stem elongates after fruiting, and there are 2 fine bracts in the middle; Small flowers, white; Sepals 5, petal shaped, ovate; Petals 5, wedge-shaped, slightly shorter than sepals; The stamens are usually 10, of which 2 are not fully developed; The pistil is 3-4, the ovary is narrow and elongated, the style is short, and it curls outward. 3-4 pods, cracking when ripe; The seeds are small and oblong in shape. The flowering period is from March to April, and the fruiting period is from May to June.
3. Origin distribution
Mainly produced in Jiangsu, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other places.
4. Harvesting and processing
Dig the root tubers between May and June, remove the fibrous roots, and dry them in the sun.
5. Characteristics of medicinal herbs
Irregular short block, spindle shaped or block shaped, slightly curved, 1-3 cm long, 0.5-1 cm in diameter. The surface is dark brown to grayish black, with irregular wrinkles and fibrous roots or scars. There are often stem and leaf residues at the top, surrounded by several layers of yellow brown sheath like scales. Soft in texture, easy to break, with a white skin section and a yellow white or yellow brown wood section, slightly radiating. Qi is subtle, with a sweet and slightly bitter taste.
6. Sexual Taste Returning to the Classics
Cold in nature, sweet and bitter in taste, belongs to the liver meridian and stomach meridian.
7. Effect and Function
Clearing heat and detoxifying, reducing swelling and dispersing nodules. Belonging to the subcategory of clearing heat and detoxifying drugs.
8. Clinical application
Use 9-15 grams. Used to treat carbuncles, sores, scrofula, hemorrhoids caused by heat and toxin accumulation, as well as hernias, bruises, swelling and pain, venomous snake bites, etc.
9. Pharmacological research
This product is 100% decocted using the flat paper method and has an inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus. The cross-section was observed under ultraviolet light (365 nanometers) and showed yellow white fluorescence. After adding acid or alkali, the fluorescence decreased. Take 1 gram of powder, add 10 milliliters of 70% ethanol, heat and reflux for half an hour, filter, evaporate the filtrate, dissolve the residue in 5 milliliters of hydrochloric acid solution (1%), filter, and separate the filtrate into two test tubes. Add 1-2 drops of bismuth potassium iodide test solution to one tube to generate an orange red precipitate; Add 1-2 drops of silica gel solution to another tube to generate a yellow precipitate.
10. Main components
Contains alkaloids, quercetin, malic acid, lactones, coumarin, chlorogenic acid, aconitic acid, heptaphyllide, succinic acid, phenolic components, and amino acids.
11. Usage taboos
People with spleen and stomach deficiency and cold should take it with caution.
12. Related prescriptions
① To treat stomach heat and shortness of breath: Take 6g of sunflower seeds, crush or chew them thoroughly, and swallow with boiling water. (Guizhou Folk Herbs)
② Treatment for tuberculosis: 120 grams of sunflower seeds, placed in the belly of one large pig, boiled until tender to remove any residue, and consumed three of them in a row. (Guizhou Folk Herbs)
③ Treating waist soreness: Crush and apply 13 (or large) root tubers of purple backed sunflower, or swallow. (Zhejiang Folk Herbal Medicine)
④ To treat scrofula and breast cancer: Take 1.5 grams of Tiankuizi root, add 6-9 grams of elephant shells, 9-12 grams of calcined oysters, 3 grams of licorice, and decoct and take several times. (Zhejiang Folk Herbal Medicine)
⑤ Treatment of intestinal adhesions: 15g of sunflower seeds and 60g of lean pork. Stew the meat in water until it rots, then eat meat and drink soup. (Anhui Traditional Chinese Medicine)
⊙ The content of the article is for clinical reference only. Non TCM professionals are not allowed to test drugs.