A flowering plant. The leaves are lanceolate, and arranged in opposite pairs on the stems. The flowers are produced in dense panicles 10-50 cm long; each individual flower is tubular, about 1 cm long, with the corolla divided into four spreading lobes (petals), about 3-4 mm across. The fruit is a small capsule about 1 cm long and 1-2 mm diameter, containing numerous small seeds.

Febrifuge (plant); antispasmodic, slightly cholagogue and ophthalmic (flowers and flower buds).

Plants For A Future

The flowers and flower buds have an action similar to vitamin P, reducing the permeability and fragility of the blood vessels of the skin and small intestine[176]. They are used in the treatment of various eye problems. They are also used in the treatment of gonorrhoea, hepatitis and hernia. A decoction of the leaves is used in the treatment of collyrium. Also used in the treatment of gonorrhoea, hepatitis and hernia.

Jing-Nuan Wu. An Illustrated Chinese Materia Medica. P: 148, Oxford University Press, Inc.2005.