Introduction of Ji Li: Puncture-vine Caltrop Fruit
✵The article records the herb Puncture-Vine Caltrop Fruit—its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavor, botanical sources—two plant species: (1) Tribulus terrestris L. and (2) Tribulus cistoides L., a detailed description of the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environments of these two species, as well as the morphological features of the herb itself, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Fructus Tribuli (Puncture-vine Caltrop Fruit)
Pinyin Name: Jí Lí or Cì Jí Lí
English Name: Puncture-vine Caltrop Fruit
Latin Name:Fructus Tribuli Properties and Flavor: Slightly warm; pungent and bitter
Brief Introduction:Fructus Tribuli is the dried fruit of Tribulus terrestris L. (family Zygophyllaceae). It is used (1) to pacify and soothe the Liver, for treating headache, vertigo, thoracic and hypochondriac pain, and mastitis due to depressed Liver Qi; (2) to improve vision in cases of conjunctivitis and nebula; and (3) to dispel Wind in cases of urticaria and pruritus. The herb is commonly known as Fructus Tribuli, Puncture-Vine Caltrop Fruit, or Jí Lí.
Botanical Source: Traditional herbal classics define Fructus Tribuli—or Puncture-Vine Caltrop Fruit (Cì Jí Lí)—as the fruit of plants in the Zygophyllaceae family (bean-caper family), specifically (1) Tribulus terrestris L. and (2) Tribulus cistoides L. These two commonly used species are described below:
(1) Tribulus terrestris L.
Botanical Description:Tribulus terrestris L. is an annual herb of the Zygophyllaceae family and the genus Tribulus (puncture vine), commonly known as Puncture-Vine Caltrop or Jí Lí—and by many other names, including goat’s-head, bindii, bullhead, burra gokharu, bhakhdi, caltrop, small caltrops, cat’s-head, devil’s eyelashes, devil’s-thorn, devil’s-weed, puncture vine, puncturevine, and tackweed. Stems are usually branched from the base, procumbent on the ground, ribbed, and up to approximately 1 meter long; the whole plant is covered with silky pubescence. Stipules (peraphylla) are lanceolate, small and acute, about 3 mm long; leaves are paripinnate compound leaves, opposite, with one leaf longer than the other; long leaves measure 3–5 cm in length and 1.5–2 cm in width, typically bearing 6–8 pairs of leaflets; short leaves measure 1–2 cm in length and bear 3–5 pairs of leaflets; leaflets are opposite, oblong, 4–15 mm long, with an acute or obtuse apex; the upper surface is glabrous or bears threadlike hairs only along the midvein, while the lower surface is covered with white, appressed, threadlike hairs.
Flowers are primrose yellow (pale yellow), small, solitary, and axillary on short leaves; pedicels are 4–10 mm long, occasionally up to 20 mm; calyx consists of 5 ovate-lanceolate, acuminate sepals, ~4 mm long, pilose on the abaxial surface are persistent; corolla consists of 5 obovate petals with slightly truncate apices, alternating with the sepals; stamens number 10, inserted at the base of the floral disc, with scale-like glands at the base. The ovary is composed of 5 carpels.
Fruits are schizocarps, pentagonal or nearly spherical, composed of five mericarps arranged in a stellate pattern; each mericarp bears one pair of long and short thorny spines, and its abaxial surface bears short hirsute hairs and tubercles (tubercular protrusions). Flowering occurs from May to August; fruiting occurs from June to September.
Ecological Environment:Tribulus terrestris L. grows on barren hills, field margins, and roadside verges. It is widely distributed across China and is native to warm temperate and tropical regions of southern Europe, southern Asia, and Australia; it is now naturalized worldwide.
Growth Characteristics:Tribulus terrestris prefers a warm, moist climate and exhibits drought tolerance but is intolerant of waterlogging. Cultivation is best carried out in sunny, well-drained, loose, fertile, sandy soils; it is unsuitable for cultivation in excessively rainy areas, heavy clay soils, or low-lying, poorly drained land.
Characteristics of the Herb: The collective fruit (syncarp) is typically composed of five schizocarp valves arranged radially in a five-ribbed, nearly spherical structure, 7–12 mm in diameter. In commerce, the fruit often separates into individual mericarps. Each mericarp is securiform (triangular), 3–6 mm long, light yellow-green, with a raised abaxial surface bearing longitudinal ridges (strigations) and numerous spinules (small spines); it bears one pair of symmetrical long thorns and shorter spines, arranged in a figure-eight pattern; both surfaces are coarse and rough, exhibiting reticulate venation and appearing ash-gray (grayish-white). The pericarp is firm, hard, and woody, enclosing three to four seeds. The seeds are ovoid (egg-shaped), slightly flattened, and oily. The herb has a faint odor and tastes bitter and pungent.
(2) Tribulus cistoides L.
Botanical Description:Tribulus cistoides L. is a perennial herb of the Zygophyllaceae family (bean-caper family) and the genus Tribulus (puncture vine), commonly known as Big-Flowered Tribulus or Dà Huā Jí Lí—and by several synonyms, including Kallstroemia cistoides (L.) Endl., Tribulus alacranensis Millsp., Tribulus moluccanus Decne., Tribulus sericeus Andersson, and Tribulus terrestris var. cistoides (L.) Oliv. Stems are procumbent or ascending and densely pubescent. Leaves are opposite, 2.5–4.5 cm long, with four to seven pairs of leaflets; leaflets are subsessile or short-stipitate, chartaceous (papery), oblong or obovate-oblong, with an orbicular and acute apex and a decurrent base. Stipules are opposite, lanceolate or nearly falciform, approximately 6 mm long.
Flowers are large, solitary, and axillary, ~3 cm in diameter; pedicels are approximately equal in length to the leaves; sepals are lanceolate, ~8 mm long, villous on the abaxial surface; petals are obovate-oblong, ~20 mm long; the ovary is covered with pale yellow hirsute hairs; styles are stout, ~2 mm long; stigma lobes are small. Mericarps are 8–12 mm long, tuberculate, and bear two to four spiculate thorns. Flowering occurs in May.
Ecological Environment:Tribulus cistoides L. grows on sandy beaches, wastelands (barren land), fields, roadsides, and riparian meadows. It is widely distributed across China and is also known as Jamaican feverplant or puncture vine; it is native to and widely naturalized in tropical and subtropical regions.
Growth Characteristics:Tribulus cistoides prefers a warm, moist climate and exhibits drought tolerance but is intolerant of waterlogging. Cultivation is best carried out in sunny, well-drained, loose, fertile, sandy soils; it is unsuitable for excessively rainy areas, heavy clay soils, or low-lying, poorly drained land.
Characteristics of the Herb: Each mericarp bears only one pair of large, needle-like spines on its abaxial surface and contains four to six seeds.
Pharmacological actions: (1) hypotensive effect; (2) diuretic effect; (3) inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli growth.
Medicinal Efficacy: Calms the Liver, alleviates depression (relieves Qi stagnation), activates Blood circulation, dispels Wind, improves vision (visual acuity), descends Qi, and relieves itching. It is indicated for headache, dizziness, distending pain in the chest and hypochondrium, chest fullness, cough, acute mastitis, breast distension and pain, amenorrhea, red eyes and nebula (conjunctival congestion and mild corneal opacity), pruritus, urticaria, vitiligo (leukoderma), abdominal masses, sores, subcutaneous ulcers, scrofula (lymph node tuberculosis), and other related conditions.
Administration of Fructus Tribuli (Jí Lí):
Reference:
Administration Guide for Fructus Tribuli (Jí Lí)
TCM Books:
(1) Internally: 6–10 grams; (2) Internally: water decoction, 2–3 qián (~6–9 grams); or prepared as pills or powder. External use: mashed fresh herb applied topically; or finely powdered herb sprinkled or pasted onto affected areas. (3) Internally: water decoction, 6–9 grams; or prepared as pills or powder. External use: appropriate amount—washed with decoction; or finely powdered herb applied topically.
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1.Introduction of Ji Li: Puncture-vine Caltrop Fruit
✵The article records the herb Puncture-Vine Caltrop Fruit—its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavor, botanical sources—two plant species: (1) Tribulus terrestris L. and (2) Tribulus cistoides L., a detailed description of the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environments of these two species, as well as the morphological features of the herb itself, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Pinyin Name: Jí Lí or Cì Jí Lí
Botanical Description: Tribulus terrestris L. is an annual herb of the Zygophyllaceae family and the genus Tribulus (puncture vine), commonly known as Puncture-Vine Caltrop or Jí Lí—and by many other names, including goat’s-head, bindii, bullhead, burra gokharu, bhakhdi, caltrop, small caltrops, cat’s-head, devil’s eyelashes, devil’s-thorn, devil’s-weed, puncture vine, puncturevine, and tackweed. Stems are usually branched from the base, procumbent on the ground, ribbed, and up to approximately 1 meter long; the whole plant is covered with silky pubescence. Stipules (peraphylla) are lanceolate, small and acute, about 3 mm long; leaves are paripinnate compound leaves, opposite, with one leaf longer than the other; long leaves measure 3–5 cm in length and 1.5–2 cm in width, typically bearing 6–8 pairs of leaflets; short leaves measure 1–2 cm in length and bear 3–5 pairs of leaflets; leaflets are opposite, oblong, 4–15 mm long, with an acute or obtuse apex; the upper surface is glabrous or bears threadlike hairs only along the midvein, while the lower surface is covered with white, appressed, threadlike hairs.
Botanical Description: Tribulus cistoides L. is a perennial herb of the Zygophyllaceae family (bean-caper family) and the genus Tribulus (puncture vine), commonly known as Big-Flowered Tribulus or Dà Huā Jí Lí—and by several synonyms, including Kallstroemia cistoides (L.) Endl., Tribulus alacranensis Millsp., Tribulus moluccanus Decne., Tribulus sericeus Andersson, and Tribulus terrestris var. cistoides (L.) Oliv. Stems are procumbent or ascending and densely pubescent. Leaves are opposite, 2.5–4.5 cm long, with four to seven pairs of leaflets; leaflets are subsessile or short-stipitate, chartaceous (papery), oblong or obovate-oblong, with an orbicular and acute apex and a decurrent base. Stipules are opposite, lanceolate or nearly falciform, approximately 6 mm long.
Characteristics of the Herb: Each mericarp bears only one pair of large, needle-like spines on its abaxial surface and contains four to six seeds.
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