Cactus is the name of a traditional Chinese medicine. It consists of the roots and stems of the cactus plants Opuntia dillenii (Ker–Gawl.) Haw. and Opuntia monacantha Haw., both belonging to the Cactaceae family. It has the effects of promoting the flow of qi and blood, cooling the blood and stopping bleeding, and detoxifying and reducing swelling.It is primarily used to treat stomach pain, abdominal masses, dysentery, sore throat, cough due to lung heat, hemoptysis from pulmonary tuberculosis, hematemesis, bleeding from hemorrhoids, boils, carbuncles, mastitis, mumps, tinea, snake and insect bites, burns, and frostbite.
Cactus
Cactus is the name of a traditional Chinese medicine. It consists of the roots and stems of the cactus plants Opuntia dillenii (Ker–Gawl.) Haw. and Opuntia monacantha Haw., both belonging to the Cactaceae family. It has the effects of promoting the flow of qi and blood, cooling the blood and stopping bleeding, and detoxifying and reducing swelling.It is primarily used to treat stomach pain, abdominal masses, dysentery, sore throat, cough due to lung heat, hemoptysis from pulmonary tuberculosis, hematemesis, bleeding from hemorrhoids, boils, carbuncles, mastitis, mumps, tinea, snake and insect bites, burns, and frostbite.
Chinese Name : 仙人掌
Aliases : Phoenix Tail, Dragon’s Tongue, Pinglu Grass, Old Crow’s Tongue, Immortal Palm, Overlord, Guanyin Palm, Guanyin Thorn, Overlord Tree, Immortal Palm, Flame, Fire Palm, Prickly Palm, Foreign Flower, Qilin Flower, Buddha’s Hand Thorn, Fire-Repelling Hairpin
Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Bitter in taste, cold in nature; enters the Stomach, Lung, and Large Intestine meridians
Benefits & Efficacy
Benefits
Promotes the flow of qi and blood, cools the blood and stops bleeding, detoxifies and reduces swelling.
Indications
Mainly used to treat stomach pain, abdominal masses, dysentery, sore throat, cough due to lung heat, hemoptysis from pulmonary tuberculosis, hematemesis, bleeding from hemorrhoids, sores, boils, carbuncles, mastitis, mumps, tinea, snake and insect bites, burns, and frostbite.
Usage and Dosage
Internal use: Decocted as a soup, 10–30 g; or roasted, dried, and ground into powder, 3–6 g. External use: Apply an appropriate amount of the fresh plant, pounded and applied as a poultice.
Precautions
If the sap enters the eyes, it can cause insomnia. Avoid consuming acidic, spicy, or other irritating foods.
Chemical Constituents
The stems contain quercetin-3-glucoside, resin, tartaric acid, and protein. The flowers contain glycosides of isorhamnetin and quercetin, malic acid, succinic acid, and other compounds. The fruits contain protein, as well as a polysaccharide composed of D-galactose and D-arabinose in a 3:1 molar ratio. The seeds contain fatty oil.
Pharmacological Actions
This product has hypoglycemic, immune-modulating, lipid-lowering, weight-loss, anti-gastric ulcer, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-stress, and anti-aging effects.
Relevant Discussions
*Ben Cao Qiu Yuan* states: “It alleviates various sores in their early stages and is excellent for washing hemorrhoids.”
Applications
Clinical Applications
1. For treating masses: Take 15–30 g of cactus, pound it into a pulp, steam it with sweet rice wine, and consume; then take an appropriate amount of cactus, stir-fry it with sweet rice wine until hot, and apply it to the affected area. (*Guizhou Herbal Medicine*)
2. For acute bacterial dysentery: 30–60 g of fresh cactus. Decoct in water and drink. (Guangzhou Military Region, *Manual of Common Chinese Herbs*)
3. For stomach pain: Grind cactus into powder; take one qian at a time, swallowing it with boiling water; or use one liang of cactus, finely chopped, stir-fried with two liang of beef and eaten. (*Guizhou Herbal Medicine*)
4. For intestinal wind and hemorrhoidal bleeding: Soak cactus and licorice in wine and drink the mixture. (*An Examination of Medicinal Properties*)
5. For bleeding hemorrhoids: Stew 30g of cactus with 250g of beef and consume the stew. (*Modern Interpretation of Simple Herbal Remedies*)
Notes
Patients requiring treatment with Chinese herbal medicine should first consult a licensed Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) hospital to receive a prescription following a professional TCM differential diagnosis.
Processing & Preparation
Harvesting & Processing
Can be harvested year-round. Use a knife to remove the sharp spines and bristles from the small tubercles, eliminate impurities, and use fresh or sun-dried.
Processing Methods
Take the herbal material, remove impurities, wash thoroughly, slice thinly, and air-dry.
Crude Drug Identification
Properties of Crude Drugs
The older stems near the base are cylindrical; the rest are palm-shaped and flattened. Each segment is obovate to elliptical, 6–25 cm or longer in length, 4–15 cm in diameter, and 0.2–0.6 cm thick. The surface is grayish-green to yellowish-brown, with numerous marks left from the removal of sharp spines and bristles from the small tubercles.The texture is brittle and脆, breaking easily; the fracture surface is slightly powdery, ranging in color from gray-green, yellow-green to yellow-brown. It has a faint odor and a sour taste.
Properties of Processed Slices
The finished product consists of irregular slices. The surface is grayish-green, smooth or with few wrinkles, and features brown or tan clumps, as well as scattered brown dot-like or pit-like marks where spines have fallen off. The cross-section is rough, grayish-yellow, and powdery. It is brittle and breaks easily; the fracture surface is grayish-green or pale brown. It has a faint odor and a bland taste.
Botanical Information
Botanical Classification
Cacti and green cacti of the Cactaceae family.
Morphological Characteristics
1. Cactus, a tufted succulent shrub, 1–1.5–3 meters tall.The upper branches are broadly obovate, obovate-elliptic, or nearly circular, 10–35 (–40) cm long, 7.5–20 (–25) cm wide, and up to 1.2–2 cm thick, with rounded apices, margins usually irregularly wavy, and bases cuneate or gradually tapering; they are green to bluish-green and glabrous;Small nests are sparsely arranged, 0.2–0.9 cm in diameter, and conspicuously protruding; as they mature, the spines often thicken and increase in number. Each small nest bears (1–)3–10(–20) spines, densely covered with short cottony hairs and barbed bristles;Spines are yellow with pale brown transverse striations; they are coarsely awl-shaped, more or less spreading and inwardly curved, with a flattened base; they are hard, 1.2–4 (–6) cm long, and 1–1.5 mm wide; barbed bristles are dark brown, 2–5 mm long, erect, and more or less persistent; short cottony hairs are gray, shorter than the barbed bristles, and persistent.Leaves are awl-shaped, 4–6 mm long, green, and early deciduous. Flowers are radiate, 5–6.5 cm in diameter; the receptacle is obovate, 3.3–3.5 cm long and 1.7–2.2 cm in diameter, truncate and concave at the apex, gradually narrowing toward the base,green, sparsely bearing protruding pits; the pits bear short cottony hairs, barbed bristles, and awl-shaped spines; calyx-like perianth segments are broadly obovate to narrowly obovate, 10–25 mm long, 6–12 mm wide, with an acute or rounded apex bearing a small tip, yellow, and with a green midrib;petal-like perianth segments obovate or spatulate-obovate, 25–30 mm long, 12–23 mm wide, apex rounded, truncate, or slightly concave, margins entire or slightly eroded; filaments pale yellow, 9–11 mm long;Anthers approximately 1.5 mm long, yellow; style 11–18 mm long, 1.5–2 mm in diameter, pale yellow; stigmas 5, 4.5–5 mm long, yellowish-white.The berries are obovoid, with a depressed apex and a base more or less narrowed into a stalk; they are 4–6 cm long and 2.5–4 cm in diameter, with a smooth, glabrous surface and a purplish-red color; each side bears 5–10 raised pits, which are covered with short cottony hairs, hooked bristles, and awl-shaped spines.Seeds numerous, flattened-round, 4–6 mm long, 4–4.5 mm wide, about 2 mm thick, with slightly irregular margins, glabrous, pale yellowish-brown. Flowering period: June–October (–December).
2. Green Cactus. Succulent shrub or small tree, 1.3–7 m tall; mature plants often have a cylindrical trunk up to 15 cm in diameter.Branches are numerous, spreading, obovate, obovate-oblong, or oblanceolate, 10–30 cm long and 7.5–12.5 cm wide, with rounded apices, entire or slightly wavy margins, and bases tapering gradually to a petiolate base; when young, they are thin and wrinkled, bright green and glossy, glabrous, and sparsely bearing small pits;The small pits are round, 3–5 mm in diameter, bearing short cottony hairs, barbed bristles, and spines;Spines are needle-like, solitary or clustered in groups of 2 (–3), erect, 1–5 cm long, gray, with blackish-brown tips; the base is 0.2–1.5 mm in diameter; young cels are sometimes spineless but develop spines as they mature; each cel on the main stem may bear 10–12 spines, up to 7.5 cm long;Short tomentum grayish-brown, dense, persistent; barbed bristles yellowish-brown to brown, sometimes concealed within the short tomentum.Leaves are awl-shaped, 2–4 mm long, green or reddish, and early deciduous. Flowers are radiate, 5–7.5 cm in diameter; the receptacle is obovate, 3–4 cm long, with a truncate, concave apex, 1.5–2.2 cm in diameter, tapering at the base,green, glabrous, sparsely bearing small pits; the pits bear short cottony hairs and hooked bristles, and are either spineless or bear a few bristle-like spines; the calyx-like perianth segments are deep yellow, with a red midrib on the outer surface, ovate to obovate, 0.8–2.5 cm long, 0.8–1.5 cm wide, with a rounded apex, sometimes bearing a small point, and entire margins;petal-like perianth segments are deep yellow, obovate to oblong-obovate, 2.3–4 cm long, 1.2–3 cm wide, with a rounded or truncate apex, sometimes bearing a small point, and nearly entire margins; filaments are 12 mm long, pale green;Anthers pale yellow, about 1 mm long; style pale green to yellowish-white, 12–20 mm long, about 1.5 mm in diameter; stigmas 6–10, 4.5–6 mm long, yellowish-white.The berry is pear-shaped or obovate-globose, 5–7.5 cm long, 4–5 cm in diameter, with a depressed apex and a base narrowed into a stalk-like structure; it is glabrous, purplish-red, and bears 10–15 (–20) small pits on each side; the pits are prominent and bear short cottony hairs and hooked bristles, but the berry is usually spiny.Seeds are numerous, reniform-elliptic, approximately 4 mm long, 3 mm wide, and 1.5 mm thick, pale yellowish-brown, and glabrous. Flowering period: April–August.
Distribution Area
1. Cacti are distributed in Southwest China, South China, and in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Fujian. 2. Green cacti are distributed in Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan.
Propagation Methods
Propagation by division or cuttings.