White Strawberry, a name in traditional Chinese medicine. It refers to the whole plant of Fragaria nilgerrensis Schlecht. ex Gay, a species of the genus Fragaria in the Rosaceae family.This herb has a sweet and bitter taste and a cool nature; it has the effects of clearing the lungs, relieving coughs, detoxifying, and reducing swelling. It is primarily used to treat lung-heat-induced cough and wheezing, whooping cough, mouth and tongue sores, dysentery, painful urination, swollen and painful sores, venomous snake bites, and fractures.
White Strawberry
White Strawberry, a name in traditional Chinese medicine. It refers to the whole plant of Fragaria nilgerrensis Schlecht. ex Gay, a species of the genus Fragaria in the Rosaceae family.This herb has a sweet and bitter taste and a cool nature; it has the effects of clearing the lungs, relieving coughs, detoxifying, and reducing swelling. It is primarily used to treat lung-heat-induced cough and wheezing, whooping cough, mouth and tongue sores, dysentery, painful urination, swollen and painful sores, venomous snake bites, and fractures.
Chinese Name : 白草莓
Aliases : White Bubble, White Reed, Three-Horse Wind, Wild Bayberry, Strawberry, White Groundberry
Authentic Producing Area : Guangxi, Yunnan, Tibet
Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Sweet and bitter in taste; cool in nature
Benefits & Efficacy
Benefits
Clears lung heat, relieves cough, detoxifies, and reduces swelling.
Indications
White Strawberry is primarily used to treat lung-heat-induced cough and wheezing, whooping cough, mouth and tongue sores, dysentery, painful urination, swollen and painful sores, venomous snake bites, and fractures.
Usage and Dosage
1. Internal use: Decoct 15–30 g. 2. External use: Apply an appropriate amount after pounding into a paste.
Precautions
Not yet determined.
Relevant Discussions
1. *Commonly Used Tibetan Herbal Medicines*: “Dispels wind and relieves cough; clears heat and detoxifies. Treats wind-heat cough, whooping cough, boils, snake bites, and burns.”
2. *Medicinal Herbs of Yunnan*: “Heals tendons and mends bones. Primarily used to treat oral ulcers, hematuria, urinary tract infections, lumbar spinal tuberculosis, and fractures.”
3. *Collection of Folk Remedies from Guizhou*: “Treats fever and shortness of breath, sternum pain, and pediatric stomatitis.”
Applications
Clinical Applications
1. For lumbar spinal tuberculosis and fractures: 15–30 g of *white strawberry*, decocted and taken orally. Additionally, apply an appropriate amount of the fresh plant, pounded into a paste, as an external poultice. (*Medicinal Herbs of Yunnan*)
2. For venomous snake bites and boils: An appropriate amount of fresh *white strawberry*, pounded into a paste and mixed with brown sugar, applied as an external poultice. (*Selected Medicinal Herbs of Yunnan*)
3. For treating scalds and burns: Take an appropriate amount of fresh (White Strawberry), mash it, mix with brown sugar, and apply as a poultice. (Compendium of Chinese Herbal Medicines)
Notes
Patients requiring treatment with Chinese herbal medicine should first consult a licensed Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) hospital, where a TCM practitioner will conduct a professional pattern differentiation and prescribe an herbal formula.
Processing & Preparation
Harvesting & Processing
Harvest the whole plant in spring or summer, wash it, cut it into sections, and dry it in the shade or use it fresh.
Crude Drug Identification
Properties of Crude Drugs
The entire plant is covered with soft hairs. The root is oblong-conical, covered with scales, and bears numerous fibrous roots. The stem is covered with yellowish-brown soft hairs. Basal leaves have long petioles and are scattered; they are trifoliate, with ovate leaflets that are bluntly rounded at the apex, broadly cuneate at the base, and coarsely serrated along the margins, measuring 2–3 cm long and 1.5–2 cm wide.In some specimens, pale yellow, shriveled flowers may be visible; the spherical aggregate fruit is yellowish-white or red, and the small achenes are ovate.
Botanical Information
Botanical Classification
Yellow-haired strawberry, a plant of the genus Fragaria in the Rosaceae family.
Morphological Characteristics
A robust perennial herb forming dense clumps, 5–25 cm tall. Stems densely covered with yellowish-brown soft hairs. Trifoliate compound leaves; petioles 4–18 cm long, densely covered with yellowish-brown silky soft hairs; leaflets short-petiolate; leaflets obovate or elliptic, 1–4.5 cm long, 0.8–3 cm wide.Cymes bearing 1–6 flowers; the lower part of the inflorescence bears one or three petiolate bracts; flower pedicels covered with spreading yellow silky pubescence; flowers bisexual, 1–2 cm in diameter; sepals ovate-lanceolate, epicalyx lanceolate; petals 5, rounded, with short claws at the base, white; stamens 20, unequal in length.The aggregate fruit is round, white, pale yellowish-white, or red; the persistent sepals are erect and closely adnate to the fruit; the achenes are ovate and smooth. Flowering period: April–July; fruiting period: June–August.
Distribution Area
Distributed in Southwest China, as well as Shaanxi, Taiwan, Hubei, Hunan, and Tibet.
