Agastache rugosa (Fisch. et C. A. Mey.) Kuntze

Agastache rugosa (Fisch. et C. A. Mey.) Kuntze 

Photographer: Michael Warren

Latin Name: Agastache rugosa (Fisch. et C. A. Mey.) Kuntze

Family: Lamiaceae; Genus:   Agastache

Synonym Name: Lophanthus rugosus Fischer & C. Meyer; Elsholtzia monostachya H. Léveillé & Vaniot; Lophanthus argyi H. Léveillé; Lophanthus formosanus Hayata.

English Name: Wrinkled Gianthyssop, Korean mint, also known as wrinkled giant hyssop, purple giant hyssop, Indian mint, blue licorice, and Chinese patchouli

Vietnamese name: Hoắc hương núi, Thổ hoắc hương, Tiên hương, Pả đế (Hmông)

Chinese name: Huoxiang. 藿香

Description: Stems erect, 0.5-1.5 m tall, to 7-8 mm in diam., finely pubescent upward, branched, base glabrous. Leaves gradually reduced upward; petiole 1.5-3.5 cm; leaf blade cordate-ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 4.5-11 × 3-6.5 cm, adaxially subglabrous, abaxially puberulent, glandular, base cordate or rarely cuneate, margin serrate, apex caudate-acuminate. Spikes compact, cylindric, 2.5-12 × 1.8-2.5 cm; floral leaves lanceolate-linear, less than 5 × 1-2 mm basally, 2-3 mm apically; peduncles of cymes ca. 3 mm. Calyx ± purplish or purple-red, tubular-obconical, ca. 8 × 2 mm, glandular puberulent, yellow glandular, throat slightly oblique; teeth triangular-lanceolate, 3 posterior teeth ca. 2.2 mm, 2 anterior teeth slightly shorter. Corolla purplish blue, ca. 8 mm, puberulent outside; tube base ca. 1.2 mm wide, slightly exserted, gradually dilated to ca. 3 mm wide at throat; upper lip straight, apex emarginate; middle lobe of lower lip larger, ca. 2 × 3.5 mm, spreading, margin undulate; lateral lobes semicircular. Ovary apex tomentose. Nutlets brown, ovoid-oblong, ca. 1.8 × 1.1 mm, adaxially ribbed, apically hirtellous. Flowering: June to September, fruiting: September to November.

Distribution: Growing on slopes or roadsides. Usually cultivated. Distributed in Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Shaanxi, Hebei and etc. The medicinal materials are mainly produced in Sichuan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan...

Part Used: Medical part: whole plant.

Harvest & Processing: Harvested whole plant on sunny days when inflorescence shoots out but blooms in June-July; thin ted till sunset, collected and keep for the night and ted again next day.

Chemistry:

Flavone glucoside: acacetin-7-O-(3″-O-acetyl-6″-O-malonyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside. Phenolic glucosides, (3R,7R)-tuberonic acid-12-O-[6'-O-(E)-feruloyl]-β-d-glucopyranoside (14) and salicylic acid-2-O-[6'-O-(E)-feruloyl]-β-d-glucopyranoside. Phenylpropanoid glucosides: chavicol-1-O-(6'-O-methylmalonyl)-β-d-glucopyranoside and chavicol-1-O-(6'-O-acetyl)-β-d-glucopyranoside. Methyl hexadecanoate, β-sitosterol, acacetin, ursolic acid, apigenin, protocatechuic acid and tilianin.

Volatile compounds in Agastache rugosa. The yield of volatile oil from Agastache rugosa was 0.37%. Totally 79 compounds were identified, among which chavicol methylether (47.60%), D-limonene (5.91%), caryophyllene (6.59%), eugenol methyl ether (1.87%) and β-muurolene (1.42%) were prominent compounds.

Pharmacology: Antibiosis, anti-spirochete and anti-viral, anticoagulant activities

Properties & Actions: Pungent, little warm. Removing heat and relieving exterior syndrome, removing dampness to restore normal function of the stomach.

Indications & Usage: Summer common cold, headache induced by chills and fever, chest and epigastric fullness and distress, vomiting and diarrhea, morning sickness. Oral administration: decocting, 6-10g; or made as pills or powders. External application: appropriate amount, decocted for washing, or applied in powdered form.

Examples      

1. Suffering from heat-stroke in summer, dizziness and chest distress, nausea, sticky sense in mouth, poor appetite: wrinkled gianthyssop and fortune bogorchid, 9g each, villous amomum fruit and aucklandia root, 4.5g each, massa medicata fermentata 6g, decoct in water and swallow.

2. Prevention against sunstroke: wrinkled gianthyssop and fortune bogorchid of equal amount, decoct in water and drink.

References

Chinese Medicinal Material Images Database

efloras.org

Theplantlist

- Cao P, Xie P, Wang X, Wang J, Wei J, Kang WY.; Chemical constituents and coagulation activity of Agastache rugosa.; BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017 Feb 6;17(1):93. doi: 10.1186/s12906-017-1592-8.

- Seo YH1, Kang SY, Shin JS, Ryu SM, Lee AY, Choi G, Moon BC, Jang DS, Shim SH, Lee D, Lee KT, Lee J.; Chemical constituents from the aerial parts of Agastache rugosa and their inhibitory activities on prostaglandin E2 production in lipopolysaccharide-treated RAW 264.7 macrophages.; J Nat Prod. 2019 Dec 27; 82(12): 3379-3385. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.9b00697. Epub 2019 Nov 20.

- WANG Jian-gang; GC-MS analysis of chemical composition of volatile oil from Agastache rugosa;  Fod Science  2010, Vol. 31  Issue (8): 223-225; DOI: 10.7506/spkx1002-6300-201008050