Buddleja Lindleyana: The Fragrant Beauty of Nature

Buddleja lindleyana, commonly known as Fish Tail Grass, Itch-Relieving Flower, Fish Tail Herb, Lu Mu, Wu Ba Qiang, Yang Bao Shu, Zhi Wei Hua, Yu Lin Zi, Yao Gan Zi, Fang Tong Shu, Li Yu Hua Cao, Yao Yu Zi, Tie Zhou Wei, Hong Yu Zao, Lou Mei Cao, Yu Pao Cao, Du Yu Cao, Qian Xian Wei, belongs to the family Rubiaceae.

It is a shrub with brown stem bark. The small branches have four edges with narrow wings. The young branches, leaf undersides, leaf stalks, inflorescences, bracts, and small bracts are densely covered with star-shaped short hairs and glandular hairs.

The leaves are opposite, and the leaves on the sprouting branches are alternate or nearly whorled. The leaf blades are membranous, ranging from ovate, elliptic to lanceolate, with a basal persistent calyx.

The seeds are pale brown, small, and wingless. The flowering period is from April to October, and the fruiting period is from August to April of the following year.

The entire plant has slight toxicity, and when crushed and thrown into the river, it can anesthetize live fish, making it easier to catch, hence the name “Fish Tail Grass”. The flowers are fragrant and beautiful, making it a commonly seen and excellent ornamental plant in parks.

I. Morphological characteristics

Plant: Shrub, 1-3 meters tall.

Stem: Stem bark is brown. The small branches have four edges with narrow wings. The young branches, leaf undersides, leaf stalks, inflorescences, bracts, and small bracts are all densely covered with star-shaped short hairs and glandular hairs.

Leaves: Opposite leaves. The leaves on the sprouting branches are alternate or nearly whorled. The leaf blades are membranous, ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate, with a length of 3-11 centimeters and a width of 1-5 centimeters.

The apex is gradually pointed, and the base is wide-wedge-shaped to rounded, with entire margins or slightly serrated. The upper surface is dark green, initially covered with star-shaped soft hairs, later becoming hairless, and the lower surface is grayish-yellowish green.

There are 6-8 pairs of lateral veins on each side, flat on the upper surface, concave when dry, and slightly convex on the lower surface. The leaf stalk is 2-15 millimeters long.

Flowers: Arranged in spike-like umbels at the top, with a length of 4-40 centimeters and a width of 2-4 centimeters. The bracts are linear, up to 10 millimeters long, and the small bracts are lanceolate, measuring 2-3.5 millimeters in length.

The flowers are purple and fragrant. The calyx is bell-shaped, about 4 millimeters long, covered with star-shaped hairs and small scales on the outside, hairless on the inside, and the calyx lobes are broadly triangular, about 1 millimeter long and wide.

The corolla is 13-20 millimeters long and covered with soft hairs on the inside. The corolla tube is curved, 11-17 millimeters long, with an upper diameter of 2.5-4 millimeters and a lower diameter of 1-1.5 millimeters.

The corolla lobes are broadly ovate or nearly circular, about 3.5 millimeters long and 3 millimeters wide. The stamens are attached to the lower part or near the base of the corolla tube, with very short filaments and ovate anthers with pointed tips and ear-like bases.

The ovary is ovate, 1.5-2.2 millimeters long, 1-1.5 millimeters in diameter, hairless, and the stigma is 0.5-1 millimeter long, with an ovate head about 1.5 millimeters long.

Fruit: Arranged in a spike-like cluster. The capsule is oblong or elliptic, 5-6 millimeters long and 1.5-2 millimeters in diameter, hairless, with scales and often with persistent calyx at the base. The seeds are pale brown, small, and wingless.

Flowering and fruiting period: Flowering from April to October, fruiting from August to April of the following year.

II. Growth environment

Prefers warm and humid climates and deep fertile soil. It has strong adaptability but is not tolerant of waterlogged conditions. It grows on mountain roadsides, riverbanks, and forest edges at altitudes of 200-2700 meters.

III. Distribution

Cultivated in Malaysia, Japan, America, and Africa.

IV. Main value

Medicinal value

The flowers and leaves contain buddleoside, linarin, acacetin, and other flavonoids. The flowers, leaves, and roots are used for medicinal purposes and have the effects of dispelling wind and dampness, relieving cough and phlegm, and promoting blood circulation.

The branches and leaves are used in veterinary medicine to treat bloody diarrhea in cattle. The whole plant can be used as a pesticide, specifically targeting wheat aphids, moth larvae, and mosquito larvae, among others.

V. Main Functions and Uses

Dispels wind, kills insects, promotes blood circulation. Used to treat influenza, cough, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, roundworm disease, hookworm disease, bruises, external bleeding, mumps, and lymphadenitis.

Pharmacological Effects

Buddleja lindleyana has certain insecticidal effects.

Prescriptions:

① Treatment for influenza: Take 5 to 10 grams of Buddleja lindleyana. Decoction and drink.

② Treatment for hookworm disease: Take 5 grams of Buddleja lindleyana (reduce dosage for children). Boil in water for two hours, take 100 milliliters of the decoction, add white sugar, and take it after dinner and before breakfast the next day.

The dosage can be gradually increased from 5 grams to 50 grams. Some individuals may experience symptoms such as nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dizziness, and weakness.

③ Treatment for malaria: Take equal amounts of Buddleja lindleyana and white yan. Decoction and take it within three to four hours before the onset of malaria, continue for two days.

④ Treatment for fresh bruises: Take fresh Buddleja lindleyana, 15 to 24 grams (3 to 5 grams when dried). Stew with red wine and boiling water for one hour, and take it orally.

⑤ Treatment for external bleeding: Sun-dry the leaves of Buddleja lindleyana, grind them into powder, and sprinkle on the wound, gently press it down, it has a hemostatic effect.

⑥ Treatment for toothache caused by wind-cold: Take fresh Buddleja lindleyana leaves and a little salt, mash them and extract the juice for mouth rinsing.

Clinical Applications

Treatment for chronic bronchitis

Use compound Buddleja lindleyana tablets, take 8 tablets three times a day (the daily dosage is 5.3 grams of raw Buddleja lindleyana, 4.7 grams of purple perilla, and 2.6 fen of aster tataricus).

One course of treatment lasts for 10 days. The therapeutic effect is significant, with cough relief, transformation of purulent sputum into thin and easy-to-cough, and alleviation of wheezing.

However, it cannot be completely controlled. Side effects include discomfort in the stomach, dryness in the throat and pharynx, bloating in the intestines, and occasional dizziness. These symptoms disappear after stopping the medication.

Treatment for bronchial asthma

Take Buddleja lindleyana, decoct and take it twice a day, 2 liang each time. In a trial, after each dose, a large amount of yellow purulent sputum was expelled within 10-15 minutes.

After about 2 weeks, the patient felt significant improvement in chest tightness. Continue taking the medication for one and a half months (a total of 6 jin of medication), and the symptoms gradually disappeared.

After 3 months of follow-up, the patient has resumed work and has not experienced attacks even during weather changes. The examination showed clear breath sounds in both lungs.

Ornamental Value

In landscape gardening, it can be used to plant lawns, as well as for greening and beautifying slopes, corners of walls, decorating rocks, courtyards, roads, and flower beds. It is also suitable for use as cut flowers.

The flowers are fragrant and beautiful, making it a commonly seen and excellent ornamental plant in parks.

Practical Value

The whole plant has a slight toxicity. When crushed and thrown into the river, it can anesthetize live fish, making it easier to catch, hence the name “Buddleja lindleyana”.