The effect of snake retreat

Snake's Back is a traditional Chinese medicine. It is harvested and dried when it blooms in the summer. The impurities inside are removed, and it is slightly washed and cut into sections. After drying, it becomes a relatively common Chinese medicine. It has a good effect of clearing heat and detoxifying, promoting diuresis and reducing swelling. It also has a certain anti-inflammatory effect, especially for sore throat, lung heat and cough, it can play a good therapeutic role. It also has the effect of treating urinary problems.

Efficacy and function

Clears away heat, detoxifies, relieves sore throat and removes dampness. It is a heat-clearing and detoxifying drug under the category of heat-clearing drugs.

Clinical Application

The dosage is 15~30 grams, 60~100 grams for fresh product; apply externally in appropriate amount, mash and apply or decoct in water for washing. It is used to treat sore throat due to heat toxins, cough due to lung heat, jaundice due to damp heat, edema, chronic eczema, scrofula, scabies, swollen and painful joints of the lower limbs, stranguria, dysentery, etc.

Main Ingredients

The effect is better when used fresh. The decoction has an inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus, beta-hemolytic Streptococcus, and bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Escherichia sonnei, and Shigella dysenteriae. It has an inhibitory effect on tumors in experimental animals.

Morphological characteristics

Perennial climbing herb. The whole body is hairless. The stem has ridges with inverted hooked spines, is multi-branched, green, and sometimes reddish. Leaves are alternate; leaf blades are nearly triangular, equal in length and width, light green, with sparsely hooked spines on the veins below, and sometimes also scattered hooked spines on the leaf margins; petioles are shield-shaped, almost as long as the leaf blades, with inverted hooked spines; the sheath is leaf-shaped, round or ovate, and phimosis.

Inflorescence is short spike, terminal or born in the upper leaf axils, with small flowers and many; with bracts, each containing 2 to 4 flowers; the perianth is 5-lobed, white or light reddish purple, the lobes are ovate, not very expanded, and become larger and fleshy with the fruit; there are 8 stamens; 1 pistil, the ovary is oval, and the style is trifurcate. Achenes are spherical, dark brown, shiny, and enclosed in a blue perianth. The flowering period is from June to August, and the fruiting period is from September to October.

Origin Distribution

Growing in wasteland, roadsides and bushes. Distributed all over the country.

Medicinal properties

The stem is slightly square columnar, angular, up to 1 meter long, purple-red or purple-brown, with inverted hooked spines on the edges, and slightly swollen nodes; the root cross section is yellow-white, with pith or hollow. The leaves are alternate, with petioles in a shield shape; the leaves are mostly wrinkled and curled, and when flattened, they are nearly equilateral triangles, gray-green to reddish brown, and the veins and petioles on the underside have inverted hooks. The racemes are terminal or grown in the upper leaf axils; the flowers are small, mostly curled or falling off. Slight odor, slightly sour taste.

Nature and flavor

It is cold in nature and sour in taste. It enters the lung meridian and bladder meridian.