Łódź, Botanical Garden

It is native to East Asian and Russian regions: from Southern Siberia to North Korea and Vietnam. Ornamental plant. Edible plant - young leaves cooked as a vegetable; the whole plant is dried and used as a tea substitute. Herbal plant - for over 2000 years the plant is commonly used in Chinese herbalism, where it is considered to be one of the 50 fundamental herbs and is used primarily in treating 'hot and damp' conditions such as dysentery and diarrhoea; has found that the roots contain flavonoids that greatly enhance liver function and also have anti-inflammatory and antiallergenic effects; they are anodyne, antibacterial, anticholesterolemic, antipyretic, antispasmodic, astringent, cholagogue, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, haemostatic, laxative, nervine, mildly sedative, stomachic and tonic (for TB), it reputedly calms the foetus in pregnant women; also they are used internally in the treatment of enteritis, dysentery, diarrhoea, jaundice, chronic hepatitis, urinary tract infections, hypertension, threatened miscarriage, nosebleed and haemorrhage from the lungs or bowel; the seeds are used to cleanse the bowels of blood and pus.