Portulaca oleracea

There are great differences between Portulaca oleracea and Herba Lycopodii in many aspects, and they are easy to distinguish. The two are often easily confused because of their similarities in some aspects such as functions. The ground ivy grows in the fields of Chuzhou and nearby roads. The seedlings and leaves are heavy and thin, spreading all over the ground, with red stems and green-red leaves. They grow luxuriantly in mid-summer; rose-like flowers bloom in June; and the fruits are fine and hardy. Nowadays, Chinese medicine uses the seedlings and seeds. In the notes of the Luoshi section in Shennong's Herbal Classic, there is a species called Dijin, which has the same name but is of a different kind. "Compendium of Materia Medica": Ground ivy is found in fields and between steps. It is a green grass. It is made locally, with red stems, red flowers and black fruits, shaped like the flowers of a thorn plant, and contains juice when broken.

Biological morphology of the herb

1. Annual creeping herb. The stem is slender, branched near the tip, dark purple, and hairless. Leaves are opposite; leaf stems are very short; bracts are linear, usually 3-lobed; leaves are long-circular, 4-1b250m long, 4-6mm wide, obtuse at the apex, narrow at the tip, with fine teeth on the edges, glabrous or sparsely pubescent on both sides, emerald green or dark red. The cup-shaped head inflorescence is solitary on the petiole; the involucre is obconical, light red, 4-lobed at the top, and the lobes are long triangular; there are 4 glandular ducts, which are long and ring-shaped, with milky white flower-like attachments; the ovary is 3-chambered; the style is 3- and 2-lobed. The capsule is triangular spherical, smooth and hairless; the seeds are ovate, dark brown, covered with milky white wax powder, about 1.2mm long and 0.7mm wide. The flowering period is from June to October, and the fruits gradually mature in July.

2. The variegated ivy is very similar to the ground ivy grass, the main differences are: there is a purple spot in the center of the leaf, and there are soft hairs on the back; the surface of the capsule is densely covered with milky white soft hairs; the seeds are oval and have angular edges. The fruit season is the same as that of the ground ivy.

Biological morphology of Portulaca oleracea

Annual herb, the whole plant is hairless. The stems are flat, spreading on the ground, and the branches are light green or dark red. The leaves are symbiotic, flat, thick, horse-tooth-shaped, dark green on the upper side, light green or dark red on the lower side; the leaf stems are short and thick. The flowers are sessile and bloom at noon; the bracts are divided; the calyx is emerald green and helmet-shaped; the flowers are light yellow and obovate; the pistil anthers are light yellow; and the ovary is glabrous. Capsule ovoid; seeds small, oblique spherical, dark brown, shiny. The flowering period is from May to August, and the fruiting period is from June to September.

The alcohol extract of decoction of Euphorbia pulegiae was administered orally to rabbits (20 g crude drug/kg) for one week, or to rats (15 g crude drug/kg) twice a day for 16 days. The rats were observed for one week after the drug was stopped, and no abnormalities were found. This product has little toxicity or side effects. Dijincao tablets (water-decocted alcohol extract) were given to rabbits ig 20g/kg once and observed for 1 week, or given to rats ig 15g/kg, twice a day, for 16 days. After stopping the medication, no abnormal symptoms were found in the animals for 1 week.