Chestnut Fennel, a name in traditional Chinese medicine. It is the inner pericarp of the chestnut (Castanea mollissima Bl.) of the Fagaceae family. It is distributed throughout areas south of Liaoning and is cultivated everywhere except Qinghai and Xinjiang. It has the effects of dispersing nodules, regulating qi, and nourishing the complexion. It is commonly used for bone-stuck syndrome, scrofula, regurgitation, and facial wrinkles.
Chestnut Fennel
Chestnut Fennel, a name in traditional Chinese medicine. It is the inner pericarp of the chestnut (Castanea mollissima Bl.) of the Fagaceae family. It is distributed throughout areas south of Liaoning and is cultivated everywhere except Qinghai and Xinjiang. It has the effects of dispersing nodules, regulating qi, and nourishing the complexion. It is commonly used for bone-stuck syndrome, scrofula, regurgitation, and facial wrinkles.
Chinese Name : 栗荴
Aliases : The thin inner skin of the chestnut and the thin membrane inside the chestnut husk
Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Taste: sweet and astringent; nature: neutral. Enters the Liver and Kidney meridians
Benefits & Efficacy
Benefits
Dispels nodules, regulates qi, and nourishes the complexion.
Indications
Bone splinters, scrofula, nausea, and facial wrinkles.
Usage and Dosage
Internal use: Decoct 3–5 g in water. External use: Apply an appropriate amount; grind into a powder and blow into the throat, or apply topically.
Relevant Discussions
*Dietary Therapy Materia Medica*: “Grind into a powder, mix with honey, and apply to the face to smooth out wrinkles.”
Applications
Related Compatibility
1. To treat a bone stuck in the throat: Remove the thin inner skin of a chestnut, burn it until charred, and grind into a powder. Blow the powder into the throat. (*Compendium of Materia Medica*)
2. To treat a “chestnut neck”: Cut open the thin membrane inside the chestnut husk, pound it, and apply as a poultice. (Yao Kecheng, *Dietary Materia Medica*)
Processing & Preparation
Harvesting & Processing
Harvest the seeds when the husk turns from green to yellow and begins to crack slightly. Collect them while removing the inner husk and air-dry in the shade.
Crude Drug Identification
Properties of Crude Drugs
The inner pericarp is broken into fragments of varying sizes, approximately 1–1.5 mm thick. The outer surface is brown and rough; the inner surface is often adherent to the membranous seed coat, pale brown and smooth. It is brittle and easily broken. It has a faint odor and a slightly astringent taste.
Botanical Information
Botanical Classification
From the chestnut tree (a plant of the Fagaceae family).
Morphological Characteristics
Chestnut, also known as li, guili, kuili, maobanli, walizi tree, or fengli. A tree reaching 15–20 m in height. The bark is dark gray with irregular, deep vertical fissures. The branches are gray-brown with longitudinal grooves; the bark bears numerous yellowish-gray, circular lenticels, and young branches are covered with gray-brown downy hairs.Winter buds are short, broadly ovate, and covered with downy hairs. Simple leaves are alternate; petioles are 0.5–2 cm long, covered with fine downy hairs or nearly glabrous;leaves are oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 8–18 cm long and 5.5–7 cm wide, with an acuminate or shortly acute apex, a rounded or broadly cuneate base, unequal sides, serrate margins with a bristle-like tip at each tooth, dark green and glossy above, with 10–17 pairs of pinnate lateral veins,hairy along the midrib; the underside is pale green with white tomentum. Flowers are unisexual, with male and female flowers on the same plant; male inflorescences are spicate, arising from the leaf axils on the lower parts of new branches, 9–20 cm long, tomentose, and pale yellowish-brown; male flowers are borne in the upper and middle parts of the inflorescence, with 3–5 flowers per cluster and 8–10 stamens;Female flowers are sessile, usually borne below the male inflorescences; they are enclosed by a cupule-like involucre, with 2–3 (–5) flowers within the involucre; the ovary is inferior; there are 5–9 styles, the lower parts of which are hairy.The cupule, including spines, is 4–6.5 cm in diameter, densely covered with appressed stellate pubescence, and densely spined; each cupule contains 2–3 nuts and splits into 4 valves when mature; the nuts are 1.5–3 cm in diameter, dark brown, and velvety at the apex. Flowering occurs from April to June, and fruiting from September to October.
Distribution Area
It is distributed throughout areas south of Liaoning and is cultivated everywhere except Qinghai and Xinjiang. Cultivation is most concentrated in North China, Southwest China, and the Yangtze River Basin, where yields are highest.
