Chestnut Husk, a name in traditional Chinese medicine. It is the involucre 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 therapeutic effects of clearing heat, dispersing nodules, resolving phlegm, and stopping bleeding. It is commonly used to treat erysipelas, scrofula and phlegm nodules, whooping cough, aphasia due to stroke, bloody stools, and epistaxis.
Chestnut-haired Ball
Chestnut Husk, a name in traditional Chinese medicine. It is the involucre 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 therapeutic effects of clearing heat, dispersing nodules, resolving phlegm, and stopping bleeding. It is commonly used to treat erysipelas, scrofula and phlegm nodules, whooping cough, aphasia due to stroke, bloody stools, and epistaxis.
Chinese Name : 栗毛球
Latin Name : Castanea mollissima Bl.
Aliases : Chestnut Husk, Spiny Chestnut Husk, Black Chestnut Husk, Wind Chestnut Husk, Chestnut Cup
Authentic Producing Area : Northern China, Southwest China, and the Yangtze River Basin
Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Taste: sweet and astringent; Nature: neutral; Enters the Heart and Lung meridians
Benefits & Efficacy
Benefits
Clears heat, disperses nodules, resolves phlegm, and stops bleeding.
Indications
Used for erysipelas, scrofula with phlegm nodules, whooping cough, aphasia due to stroke, bloody stools, and epistaxis.
Usage and Dosage
Internal use: Decoct 9–30 g. External use: Wash with the decoction or grind into a powder and apply as a poultice.
Precautions
Not yet established.
Pharmacological Actions
1. Antibacterial effects. 2. Anti-inflammatory effects. 3. Antagonizes the excitatory effects of acetylcholine chloride on isolated ileal smooth muscle from guinea pigs.
Relevant Discussions
1. *Newly Revised Materia Medica*: “Treats erysipelas and toxic swellings.”
2. *Materia Medica of Southern Yunnan*: “Treats loss of speech due to vomiting or phlegm-pathogen invasion.”
Applications
Related Compatibility
1. For treating sudden-onset erythema, toxic sores, and malignant ulcers: Boil the chestnut husk (or “skin”); if spiny, wash it first. (*Formulas for Emergency Care*)
2. For treating phlegm-fire headaches: 30 g of *wind chestnut shells*, 3 honey dates. Decoct together and take orally. (*Guangdong Traditional Chinese Medicine*) 3. For treating whooping cough in children: 9 g of *wind chestnut shells*, plus 15 g of sugar-preserved winter melon. Decoct and take orally. (*Guangdong Traditional Chinese Medicine*)
Processing & Preparation
Harvesting & Processing
Collected when the fruit is harvested; sun-dried.
Crude Drug Identification
Properties of Crude Drugs
The involucre is spherical, 3–5 cm in diameter, with sharp, hairy spines on the exterior. It has a faint odor and a slightly bitter, 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.