VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 235 



astring-ent, and alterative properties are ascribed to this plant. 

 It is added to the bath for tlie treatment of prickly heat, and 

 the expressed juice is thonpht to promote the growth of hair. 

 The juice is also applied to syphilitic sores and to carbuncles. 

 The diied plant is used to drive away mosquitos. 



LEONURUS MACRANTHUS.— g^(Tsau-ts'ai). This 

 grows in shady places in Kiangnan, and resembles the next, 

 having a square stem and a whorl of white flowers at the 

 joints. The Erhya calls it |^ (T'ui), and a purple flowered 

 variety is called j?g (T'ui). This last character, however, is 

 also used for a Rtimex. The shoots of this plant are used as a 

 vegetable ; hence the character |^ in the name. The medicinal 

 action is vitalizing to the blood, and it is used in post-partum 

 difficulties. 



LEONURUS SIBIRICUS.— 5g j^ (Ch'ung-wei), 283, 

 ^ -f^ (I-mu), 550. The ErJiya also gives the name |^ (T'ui) 

 for this. The second name above given is applied also to 

 Leoimrus macrani/ms, and in Manchuria to Lycoptts bicidiis. 

 This plant grows near the sea shore and on the margins of 

 pools and marshes. It has a square stem, trilobed leaves, and 

 the flowers are red, tinged with white, and arranged in a whorl 

 around the stem at the joints. The plant has a disagreeable 

 odor, and was called by some ancient authors ^ ^ (Ch'ou- 

 wei). The name I-niii is explained by its seeds being used in 

 women's diseases. This plant is collected by poor people and 

 dried, and sold to the medicine shops, where it is met with in 

 bundles. The odor is not strong, but the taste is bitter. Li 

 Shih-chen speaks of two varieties of the plant : one with purple 

 and one with white flowers. The latter is I-tmiy while the 

 former is called ^ "^ % (Yeh-t'ien-ma). The seeds are con- 

 sidered to be constructive and aphrodisiac. They are prescribed 

 in fevers, post-partum hemorrhage, menorrhagia, and loss of 

 virility. Prolonged use promotes fertility. The stalk is used 

 in baths for eruptions on the body, and the juice is employed 

 in dropsies, death of the foetus, diflacult labor, dysmenorrhoea, 

 fluxes, constipation, and locally in boils, cancer, ear abscess, 

 serpent and insect bites, and it is added to cosmetic applica- 



