Yi Zhi Xiang, scientifically known as Gerbera piloselloides Cass from the daisy family, is also known by various names such as Yi Zhi Xiang, Tu Bai Qian, Bai Qian, Xiao Yi Zhi Jian, Bai Hua Yi Zhi Xiang, Ma Ti Xiang, and Yi Zhi Hua. It is neutral in nature, slightly bitter in taste, non-toxic, and associated with the lung meridian.
The whole plant is used medicinally, with the root being considered the most effective part. It is harvested in summer and autumn, and can be used fresh or dried. The plant contains mannitol and flavonoid glycosides. Its water decoction has a certain inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella flexneri, Salmonella typhi, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Its main effects include reducing qi and phlegm, dispersing blood stasis and relieving pain, and clearing heat and detoxifying. It is primarily used for treating common colds and fevers, consumptive cough with rapid breathing, cough with phlegm congestion, asthma with chest tightness, testicular swelling and pain, chronic injury cough with chest pain, children’s malnutrition, dysentery, laryngitis, tonsillitis, oral inflammation, diphtheria, otitis media, venomous snake bites, and injuries from falls and sprains. It is not recommended for pregnant women.
Yi Zhi Xiang is a perennial herbaceous plant of the water vine family, found in mountains, slopes, and pits. It has a thick rhizome, covered with white wool, and produces many fibrous roots, dark brown. It blooms in early summer, with long flower stalks emerging from the leaf clusters, without bracts, and upright flower stems. Ranging from long oval to inverted egg-shaped, the clustered basal leaves are dark green and have a soft and thick texture. The plant has a white woolly umbel inflorescence at the top, pale red, with small flowers densely packed initially bell-shaped, later becoming spherical. The tips are blunt; the base is wedge-shaped; the edges are entire, the ventral surface is dark green, and the back is densely covered with white wool. After flowering, it produces achene with pale red pappus.
