The efficacy and function of Xiaodaohong

Xiaodaohong always gives us the feeling of poison in martial arts movies. In fact, we should all have seen Xiaodaohong. It is what we call henna or impatiens in spoken language. Xiaodaohong has many different species in rural areas. Because it is easy to survive and its red flowers are beautiful, it can be used as a door decoration. In addition, Xiaodaohong is also a medicinal material. What are its effects and functions?

Annual herb, 60-100 cm tall. The stem is stout, fleshy, erect, unbranched or branched, glabrous or sparsely pubescent when young, with a base diameter of up to 8 mm, with numerous fibrous roots, and the lower nodes are often swollen. Leaves are alternate, with the lowest leaves sometimes opposite; leaf blades are lanceolate, narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate, 4-12 cm long, 1.5-3 cm wide, pointed or acuminate at the apex, cuneate at the base, with sharp serrations on the margins, often with several pairs of sessile black glands toward the base, glabrous or sparsely pubescent on both surfaces, with 4-7 pairs of lateral veins; petiole is 1-3 cm long, with shallow grooves on the upper side, and with several pairs of stalked glands on both sides. The flowers are solitary or clustered in 2-3 in the leaf axils, without peduncle, white, pink or purple, single or double; the pedicels are 2-2.5 cm long and densely pubescent; the bracts are linear, located at the base of the pedicels; there are 2 lateral sepals, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 2-3 mm long, the lip is deeply boat-shaped, 13-19 mm long, 4-8 mm wide, pubescent, and the flowering period is July-October.

It is a common ornamental flower. People often use its flowers and leaves to dye their nails. The stems and seeds are used as medicine. The stem is called "Impatiens balsamina", which has the effects of removing rheumatism, activating blood circulation and relieving pain. It is used to treat rheumatic joint pain and difficulty in flexion and extension; the seed is called "Impatiens balsamina", which has the effects of softening and eliminating accumulation. It is used to treat dysphagia, bone stuck in the throat, abdominal lumps and amenorrhea.

This is the Impatiens planted by my grandmother, which we call "Xiaodaohong". The Impatiens is in bloom, and it looks exactly like the "Xiaodaohong" of my childhood. It reminds me of the time when I used Xiaodaohong to dye my nails in my hometown. I would crush Xiaodaohong with alum, apply it on the nails, wrap them tightly with bean leaves, and then there would be a long wait. The impatient little girl couldn't help but secretly twist the bean leaves off, "Why hasn't it turned red yet!" She waited until her fingers became numb from being wrapped all night, and then she was surprised to find the changes in her nails.

Now that there are various colors of nail polish, girls no longer know the purpose of henna. Moreover, in cities, this impatiens flower, also known as henna, is becoming increasingly rare.