✵The article records the herb Sweet Wormwood Herb, including its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavors, botanical source—namely, Artemisia annua L.—and provides a detailed description of the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environment of this species; the characteristics of the herb; its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Herba Artemisiae Annuae (Sweet Wormwood Herb)
Pinyin Name: Qīnɡ Hāo
English Name: Sweet Wormwood Herb
Latin Name:Herba Artemisiae Annuae Properties and Flavors: Cold, bitter, slightly pungent
Brief Introduction:Herba Artemisiae Annuae is the dried aerial part of Artemisia annua L. It clears deficiency-type heat to relieve consumptive fever and is used to treat malaria. The herb is commonly known as Herba Artemisiae Annuae, Sweet Wormwood Herb, or Qīnɡ Hāo.
Botanical Source:Herba Artemisiae Annuae (Sweet Wormwood Herb) is the dried aerial part of Artemisia annua L., a plant belonging to the genus Artemisia L. in the Asteraceae family (Compositae, or daisy family), order Asterales (order Campanulales in the past).
Classical herbal works define Herba Artemisiae Annuae (Sweet Wormwood Herb) as the dried aerial part of (1) Artemisia annua L. This commonly used species is described below:
(1) Artemisia annua L.
Botanical Description: Artemisia annua L. is commonly known as Yellow-flowered Artemisia or Huáng Huā Hāo. It is an annual herb growing 40–150 cm tall. The whole plant emits a strong aroma of volatile oil. The stem is erect, longitudinally striate, much-branched, smooth, and glabrous. Basal leaves lie prostrate on the ground and wither during flowering; cauline leaves are alternate, green when young and turning yellowish brown with age, glabrous, shortly stipitate, and gradually becoming sessile upward. Leaf blades are usually tripinnatisect; lobes are short and fine, bearing minute powdery pubescence; the upper surface is dark green, the lower surface is pale green (sometimes described as "pea green"), with fuzz or powdery glandular spots; the leaf axis bears narrow wings on both sides; cauline leaves on the upper stem become progressively narrower, smaller, and linear.
Capitula (flower heads) are small and globular, approximately 2 mm in diameter, grow on slender, soft, short pedicels; numerous capitula form conical inflorescences. The involucre is small and spheric. All flowers are tubular and yellow: female flowers are peripheral, and hermaphroditic flowers are central.
Achenes are elliptic. The flowering period extends from August to October; the fruiting period is from October to November.
Ecological Environment: Artemisia annua grows in open fields, on hillsides and mountain slopes, along roadsides, and near riverbanks.
Growth Characteristics: Artemisia annua prefers a warm, humid climate; it is shade-intolerant and susceptible to waterlogging. Optimal seed germination occurs at 8–25 °C (46.4–77 °F). It thrives best in sunny, loose, fertile, humus-rich, well-drained sandy loam.
Characteristics of the Herb: The stem is cylindrical, much-branched at the upper part, 30–80 cm long and 0.2–0.6 cm in diameter. The surface is yellow-green or brown-yellow, with longitudinal ridges. The texture is slightly hard and brittle, with pith visible in the center of the fracture surface. Leaves are alternate, dark green or brownish-green, curled and fragile; intact leaves, when unfolded, are tripinnatisect, with lobes and lobules rectangular-circular or oblong-oval; both surfaces bear short hairs. The herb has a distinctive aromatic odor and a slightly bitter taste.
Pharmacological Actions: (1) Strongest inhibitory effect against Staphylococcus aureus; (2) Significant antimalarial activity; (3) Artemisinin exerts rapid antimalarial action, enhances cellular immunity, and exhibits antiviral activity against influenza virus; (4) Volatile oil possesses expectorant, antitussive, and antiasthmatic effects.
Medicinal Efficacy: Clears heat, resolves summer-heat, eliminates steaming, and arrests malaria. It is indicated for summer-pathogen-induced fever, summer-heat syndrome, summer-heat-dampness, damp-warm disease, yin deficiency fever, night fever with early-morning cooling, bone-steaming fever, malaria (including chills and fever), jaundice, and heat-damp jaundice.
Administration of Herba Artemisiae Annuae (Qīnɡ Hāo):
Reference:
Administration Guide for Herba Artemisiae Annuae (Qīnɡ Hāo)
TCM Books:
(1) Internally: 6–12 grams, added later to the decoction; (2) Internally: Water decoction, 1.5–3 qián (≈4.5–9 grams), or prepared as pills or powder; externally: mash fresh herb and apply topically, or prepare ground herb powder and apply topically; (3) Internally: Water decoction, 6–15 grams (20–40 g for malaria treatment); should not be decocted for prolonged periods; fresh herb dosage is doubled; may be infused in water and juice extracted, or prepared as pills or powder; Externally: use appropriate amount—prepare ground herb powder and apply topically, or mash fresh herb and apply topically, or wash with water decoction.
✵The article records the herb Sweet Wormwood Herb, including its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavors, botanical source—namely, Artemisia annua L.—and provides a detailed description of the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environment of this species; the characteristics of the herb; its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Pinyin Name: Qīnɡ Hāo
Botanical Description: Artemisia annua L. is commonly known as Yellow-flowered Artemisia or Huáng Huā Hāo. It is an annual herb growing 40–150 cm tall. The whole plant emits a strong aroma of volatile oil. The stem is erect, longitudinally striate, much-branched, smooth, and glabrous. Basal leaves lie prostrate on the ground and wither during flowering; cauline leaves are alternate, green when young and turning yellowish brown with age, glabrous, shortly stipitate, and gradually becoming sessile upward. Leaf blades are usually tripinnatisect; lobes are short and fine, bearing minute powdery pubescence; the upper surface is dark green, the lower surface is pale green (sometimes described as "pea green"), with fuzz or powdery glandular spots; the leaf axis bears narrow wings on both sides; cauline leaves on the upper stem become progressively narrower, smaller, and linear.
Ecological Environment: Artemisia annua grows in open fields, on hillsides and mountain slopes, along roadsides, and near riverbanks.
Characteristics of the Herb: The stem is cylindrical, much-branched at the upper part, 30–80 cm long and 0.2–0.6 cm in diameter. The surface is yellow-green or brown-yellow, with longitudinal ridges. The texture is slightly hard and brittle, with pith visible in the center of the fracture surface. Leaves are alternate, dark green or brownish-green, curled and fragile; intact leaves, when unfolded, are tripinnatisect, with lobes and lobules rectangular-circular or oblong-oval; both surfaces bear short hairs. The herb has a distinctive aromatic odor and a slightly bitter taste.
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