Artemisia anomala

Artemisia anomala S. Moore, J. Bot. 13: 227. 1875.

(Artemisia anomala S. Moore; Photo J. C. Raulston)

Latin Name: Artemisia anomala S. Moore

Family & Genus: Asteraceae, Artemisia

Synonym Name: Artemisia anomala var. anomala 

English Name: Diverse Sagebrush, Diverse Wormwood.

Chinese Name: 奇蒿 qi hao

Vietnamese Name: Thanh hao

Description: Herbs, perennial, 80-150 cm tall, puberulent or glabrescent. Lower and middle stem leaves thickly papery; petiole 2-5 mm; leaf blade ovate, ovate-elliptic, ovate-lanceolate, elliptic-lanceolate, or lanceolate, 9-22 × 2.5-4(-5.5) cm, abaxially gray tomentose or glabrescent, adaxially drying dark, glabrescent, entire, rarely irregularly shallowly lobed or 3-cleft at apex. Uppermost leaves and leaflike bracts sessile, elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate. Synflorescence a ± narrow panicle, sometimes with extra panicles from upper nodes to form broad conical compound panicle; branches to 4 cm, usually less. Capitula usually very closely spaced, sessile. Involucre oblong or obovoid, 2-2.5 mm in diam.; phyllaries glabrous Marginal female florets 4-6. Disk florets 6-8, bisexual. Achenes obovoid or obovoid-oblong. Flowering: July to September; fruiting: September to November.

Distribution: Growing in forest edges, thickets, and on riverbanks. Widely distributed in the central and southern parts of China. Mainly produced in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi.

Habitat: It grows on the forest margins, roadsides, canyons, river banks, shrublands and slopes at levations of 200 – 1200 metres.

Part Used: Medical part: entire plant with flowers. Chinese name: Liujinu.

Harvest & Processing: Collected when flowering in July to September, excavated with root, well washed, used fresh or sun-dried, bundled up for standby application.

Chemistry: Contains flavonoids, such as arteanoflavone, galuteolin and apigentrin, etc., coumarins, such as comarin, herniarin, etc., terpenpids, organic acids and volatile oils (camphor (18.3%), 1, 8-cineole (17.3%), β-caryophyllene oxide (12.7%), and borneol (9.5%)).

- Aerial parts: Guaianolides artemanomalides A and B (2-oxo-5α, 10α-dihydroxy-guaia-3-en-1α, 6β, 7α, 11β H-12, 6-olide and 8α-acetoxy-2-oxo-5α, 10α-dihydroxy-guaia-3, 11(13)-dien-1α, 6β, 7αH-12, 6-olide)

Pharmacology: Anti-anoxia, blood-activating, stasis-dissipating, antimicrobial activities.

Properties & Actions: Pungent, little bitter, warm. Dissipating stasis, stimulating meridians, arresting bleeding, dispersing swelling, benefiting digestion and removing accumulation.

Indications & Usage: Menostasia, promoting menstrual flow, postpartum abdominal pain due to blood stasis, persistent lochia, abdominal mass, injuries from falls, blood loss from bleeding wounds, rheumatic arthralgia, hemafecia, hematuria, anthracia and swelling toxicity, scalding injuries, dyspeptic abdominalgia, diarrhea and dysentery. Internal: decocting, 5-10g; for digestion 15-30g; or powdered. External: appropriate amount, triturated for application; or powdered for application.

Examples:      

1. Distension of blood and Qi: herba artemisiae spike and seeds into powder. Take 3 qian each time, decoct in alcohol and drink.

2. Trauma by hitting and blood stasis in abdomen: herba artemisiae, corydalis tuber, rhizoma drynariae 1 liang each, cut into pieces, decoct in 3L water for 7 times, and mix, warm up and drink.

3. Dysentery: herba artemisiae, Chinese magnoliavine fruit in equal amounts, grind into a fine powder. Swallow with alcohol under fasting state. Apply powder, and the patient is cured.

References

- libproject.hkbu.edu.hk

- efloras.org

- theplantlist

- Jiayuan ZhaoJiayuan ZhaoXiaoxuan ZhengRobert A. NewmanShow, Chemical composition and bioactivity of the essential oil of Artemisia anomala from China, 2013 Journal of Essential Oil Research 25(6):520-525

- Hu ZH, Zhang P, Huang DB, Wu JZ.; New guaianolides from Artemisia anomala, J Asian Nat Prod Res. 2012;14(2):111-4.