Listed under Herbs that release the Exterior, included in Cool, Acrid Herbs, it expels Wind-Heat from the head and the eyes, soothes the throat, facilitates the flow of Liver Qi, expresses rashes and expels turbidity. It is used in the treatment of common cold with heat signs, headache, inflammation of the eyes, upper respiratory infections and other epidemic febrille diseases in the initial stage, sore throat, itching skin, rubella, measles and ulcers in the mouth, toothache and urticaria.
History
Bo he was first listed medicinally in Lei Gong Pao Zhi Lun (Grandfather Lei’s Discussion of Herb Preparation) by Lei Xiao (5th century). According to Paul Unschuld, “Medicine in China, A History of Pharmaceutics”, p239, this is ‘the oldest manual for the preparation of drugs that has been at least partially preserved.
Botanical outline
A member of the family Lamiaceae, Menthe haplocalyx is a perennial, rhizomatous herb, 80 to 130 cm tall. The leaves are lanceolate to oval or elliptic, 2 to 7 cm long, 1 to3 cms wide with a fine tooth margin, with both surfaces bearing dense pubescence along the veins. Flowers form with several bracts on a common stem, five lobed calyx tube campanulate with a mauve or white 5 lobed corolla, the upper lobe being larger than the others and 4 stamens. The fruit is a brown nutlet, fruiting in China, in October November. It is found in wetlands throughout China.
Medicinal properties
TCM: The herb is collected in summer and autumn, when the foliage grows luxuriantly and dried in the sun or shade. Acrid, aromatic and cooling, it enters the Lung and the Liver channels.
Listed under Herbs that release the Exterior, included in Cool, Acrid Herbs, it expels Wind-Heat from the head and the eyes, soothes the throat, facilitates the flow of Liver Qi, expresses rashes and expels turbidity. It is used in the treatment of common cold with heat signs, headache, inflammation of the eyes, upper respiratory infections and other epidemic febrille diseases in the initial stage, sore throat, itching skin, rubella, measles and ulcers in the mouth, toothache and urticaria.
General: In decoction (1;20) It can inhibit ECHO11 and the HSV virus. Ican significantly inhibit bacillus tuberculosis and bacillus typhus. It can eliminate phlegm and as an externa application it can alleviate itching and pain. It contains the volatile oils, menthone, menthyl acetate, camphene, limonene, pinene, menthenone, threonine, 2-aminopropionic acid, glutamic, aspartate, resin, rosmarinic.