There are two kinds of safflower herbs in the "Garden of Chinese Medicine", one of which is the famous saffron, which is saffron. Many people may not have eaten saffron, but its name must be known. In fact, in addition to this saffron, there is also a kind of safflower in our country, which has a great similarity, but the families of these two kinds of saffron are different, and the same is the effect, and they all have the function of invigorating blood. Therefore, many unscrupulous traders sell it instead of saffron to make high profits, and this plant is safflower.
Safflower, also known as red and blue flowers, spiny safflower, grass safflower, yellow blue, safflower, is an annual or biennial herb of the Asteraceae family and safflower. This plant has erect stems, branched, and smooth stems**. The leaves are alternate, hard and shiny, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, with spikes on the edges. The plant blooms from May to July, with capitate inflorescences at the top and flowers gradually turning from yellow to red. The fruiting period is from August to September, and the achenes are oval or obovate, bearing spherical species, the size of beans.
It is recorded in the "Materia Medica": "The safflower seedlings are two feet high, the stems and leaves have thorns, like thorny thistle leaves and moist, and the holes are cut into five facets. A slight knotting for the stomach is also prickly. Bloom safflowers, stamens out of the ball, the nursery people pick it, the picking has come back, to the end. The machine is sturdy, and the white ones are as big as small beans", which describes the plant safflower. At present, this plant is distributed in China, among which there are more in Xinjiang.
In fact, safliflower is not a native species of our country, according to the "Naturalist Chronicles", safflower was probably introduced in the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty. With more than 1,000 years of development, safflower has bloomed everywhere in China. Safliflower can be said to be a treasure all over the body, especially its flowers, although ** is not as good as saffron, but safflower is still a highly valuable herb. It has three main functions, farmers should understand, if you meet it in the wild, you must pick its flowers home, there are many uses.
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1. Young leaves of safflower can be eaten.
Safliflower was first published in "Saving the Famine Materia Medica", why it is called safflower is safflower, because its young leaves can be eaten as wild vegetables. There is a record in the Materia Medica: "To relieve hunger, pick the young leaves of safflower and cook coal, and adjust the food with oil and salt", which shows that some people did use it to satisfy hunger in ancient times. It is a pity that this kind of plant is rarely seen in the countryside now, and with the improvement of material conditions, farmers rarely go to the fields to pick wild vegetables and eat them.
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Second, the flower of safflower is a high-quality dye.
The flowers of safflower are red and rich in natural red pigment, which was extracted from the flowers of this plant for dyeing in ancient times. The agricultural work "Qi Min Yao Shu" even records in detail the secret method of extracting red pigment from safflower, and the general steps are eight steps: picking flowers, washing flowers, pounding flowers, grinding juice, fermentation, kneading, making flower balls, and forming cakes. The extracted red pigment can be used in ancient times for women's makeup rouge, which is a pure natural pigment without pollution and without any toxic substances.
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3. The flowers of safflower can also be used as medicine, which has high medicinal value.
Safflower blooms in summer, and when the safflower turns red, the tubular flowers of safflower are picked, among which the dark red is the best, which can be used for medicinal purposes, and has the function of passing through menstruation and invigorating blood. It is recorded in the "Materia Medica": "Red and blue flowers are the essential medicine for blood", and it is also recorded in the "Huiyan of Materia Medica": "Red flowers, the medicine for breaking blood, blood, blood, and regulating blood".
It can be seen that safflower and saffron are actually similar, especially if female friends have irregular menstruation, they can use it to soak in water and drink, which has many benefits. However, there is one thing to note, female friends who are pregnant with a baby are forbidden to use safflower, everyone should pay attention.
Well, that's all for today's article. Do you know anything about safflower?Is there such a plant in your local area?If you have anything to say, you can leave a message in the comment area below and participate in the discussion together. Warm Winter Good Thing Award