Scutellaria amoena C. H. Wright (Dianhuangcen)

Scutellaria amoena C. H. Wright (滇黄芩) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Lamiaceae family. Here is an overview of its characteristics, distribution, and uses:

Morphological Characteristics

  • Plant Type: Perennial herb
  • Height: Up to 35 cm
  • Stem: Light purple, with downturned or nearly spreading fine hairs and soft hairs along the ridges
  • Leaves: Oblong-ovate or elongated oval, with a rounded or blunt tip and a rounded or shallowly heart-shaped base. The upper side is sparsely covered with fine hairs, while the underside has sparse fine hairs along the veins or is nearly hairless
  • Inflorescence: A terminal raceme covered with glandular fine hairs
  • Bracts: Lanceolate to oblong
  • Calyx: Pale purple
  • Corolla: Purple or bluish-purple, with a slightly knee-shaped tube near the base. The lower lip has near-round middle lobes and triangular side lobes
  • Nutlets: Black, ovoid, with a navel-like protrusion near the base
  • Flowering Period: May to September
  • Fruit Period: July to October

Distribution and Habitat

  • Region: Found in the central and south-central parts of Yunnan, central to northwestern Yunnan, southern Sichuan, and northwestern Guizhou, China
  • Habitat: Grows in Yunnan pine forests at altitudes of 1300-3000 meters

Medicinal Value

  • Taste: Bitter
  • Nature: Cold
  • Functions: Clears heat, drains fire, dries dampness, detoxifies, stops bleeding, and stabilizes pregnancy
  • Uses: Treats lung heat cough, liver fire headache, red and swollen eyes, damp-heat jaundice, hot dysuria, bleeding disorders, and unsettled fetus

Edible Use

  • The stems and leaves can be used as a tea substitute.

Morphological Features

  • Root and Rhizome: Nearly vertical or oblique, thick, up to 11 mm in diameter, often branched at the top with 1-2 stems emerging, and frequently forked at the base
  • Stem: Up to 35 cm tall, four-angled with slight grooves, covered with fine hairs or sparse soft hairs, often purple, with internodes 1.2-2 (3.8) cm long
  • Leaves: Grass-like, oblong-ovate or elongated oval, varying in size and shape along the stem, with rounded or wedge-shaped bases, green on top and lighter underneath, sparsely hairy or nearly hairless
  • Flowers: Arranged in terminal racemes 5-14 cm long, with calyx and corolla covered with glandular fine hairs; the corolla tube is slightly curved, widening towards the throat; the upper lip is helmet-shaped, and the lower lip has rounded middle lobes and triangular side lobes
  • Nutlets: Ovoid, black, 1.25 mm long and about 1 mm wide, with a navel-like protrusion near the base

Main Uses

  • Medicinal Uses:
    • Traditional Chinese Medicine: Used for treating heat-related symptoms
    • Tibetan Medicine: Functions similar to Scutellaria baicalensis
    • Lisu Medicine: Used for treating high fever, cough from lung heat, damp-heat dysentery, jaundice, hot dysuria, bleeding, red and swollen eyes, and unsettled fetus
    • Nuojiang Medicine: Treats fever
    • Dian Province Records: Used for cough, fever, dysentery, jaundice, hot dysuria, red and swollen eyes, boils, blood heat vomiting, and unsettled fetus
    • Yi Medicine: Treats dysentery, mumps, cough, liver pain, eye pain, respiratory infections, chronic bronchitis, acute bacterial dysentery, leptospirosis, hepatitis, nephritis, pyelonephritis, and hypertension
  • Edible Value:
    • Used as a substitute for Scutellaria baicalensis in Yunnan and its stems and leaves can be used as a tea substitute.