Hirsute perennial herb with erect stem, 30-100 cm tall. Leaves alternate, odd-pinnate, 5-7 foliolate; leaflets cuneate at base, pubescent beneath on veins only, gradually smaller in the lower ones, alternate with much smaller ones; the large leaflets obong, elliptic or obovate, coarsely dendate, hairy on both sides, 3-6cm long, 1.5-3.5 cm wide. Inflorescence elongated raceme at terminal, 10-20 cm long. Flowers small, pale yellow, short-pedicellate, small bracts leaflike; calyx persistent, calyx tube, deeply grooved, 5-toothed, with spines around edge, to 5 mm in diameter; petals 5, narrowly obovate, rounded at tip; stamens 5-10 (12), carpels 2. Fruit a bristly burr, bristles incurved, connivent apically.

Analgesic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, astringent, cardiotonic, haemostatic, hypoglycaemic, taenicide and vasoconstrictor (stem and leaves); haemostatic, cardiotonic and hypoglycemic (plant); astringent, diuretic and tonic (root).

Plants For A Future
Medicinal plants in the Republic of Korea

The plant is used in the treatment of abdominal pain, sore throat, headaches, bloody and mucoid dysentery, bloody and white discharge, heat-stroke, parasitic worms especially taenia, boils and eczema. The leaves are used to promote blood clotting and control bleeding. The root is used in the treatment of coughs, colds, tuberculosis and diarrhoea. The root juice is used in the treatment of peptic ulcer. A paste of the root is used to treat stomach ache. The aerial parts are used to treat various kinds of bleeding, such as hemoptysis, epistaxis, metrorrhagia, and hematuria. It is used in combination with other drugs for diarrhea, dysentery, Trichonomas vaginitis, menorrhagia, malaria etc.

Jing-Nuan Wu. An Illustrated Chinese Materia Medica. P: 50, Oxford University Press, Inc.2005.