Pinyin: Meihua
Aliases
Bai Meihua, Lv E Mei, Lv Meihua
Source
Rosaceae family plant Mei.Prunus mumeDried flower buds of (Sieb.) Sieb. et Zucc.
Botanical Description
See the entry under "Wumei" (Smoked Plum).
Harvesting and Processing
Harvest when the flowers first bloom in early spring and promptly dry at low temperature.
Medicinal Properties
Dried flower buds are subglobose in shape, 3-6 mm in diameter, with a very short pedicel. Bracts are in several layers, scaly, 3.5 mm long, up to 2 mm wide, dark brown, with short hairs. Sepals 5, broadly ovate, about 4 mm in diameter, grayish-green or brown, hairy. Petals 5 or more, broadly ovate-orbicular, about 4 mm long, up to 5.5 mm wide, yellowish-white. Stamens numerous, pistil 1, ovary attached to a concave receptacle, surface densely covered with fine soft hairs. Light in weight, faint fragrant aroma, taste slightly bitter and astringent.
Chemical Constituents
This product contains benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol, 4-terpineol, palmitic acid, and other constituents.
Properties and Channel Entry
Slightly sour, neutral. Enters the Liver, Stomach, and Lung channels.
Functions and Indications
Soothing the Liver and harmonizing the Middle Jiao, transforming Phlegm and dissipating masses
Dosage and Administration
Internal use: decoction, 2-6 g; or made into pills or powder. External use: fresh product, applied as a plaster.
Prescriptions
1. For sensation of foreign body in the throat and upper esophageal spasm: Meihua (Mume Flower) and Meiguihua (Rose Flower) 3 g each. Infuse in boiling water and drink as tea frequently. (Zhejiang Zhiwu Yaozhi / Zhejiang Medicinal Flora) 2. For morning sickness during pregnancy: Meihua (Mume Flower) 6 g, infuse in boiling water and drink as tea. (Zhejiang Zhiwu Yaozhi / Zhejiang Medicinal Flora) 3. For scrofula (tuberculous lymphadenitis): Make a small hole in an egg, insert 7 green calyx mume flowers (about to bloom) into the hole, seal the opening, steam over rice until cooked. Remove the flowers and eat the egg, one per day. Recovery in seven days. (Gangmu Shiyi / Supplement to Compendium of Materia Medica) 4. For pox (chickenpox/smallpox): Every morning in the twelfth lunar month, pick 100 green calyx mume flowers with dew, add white sugar, pound into small cakes, and have the patient eat them. (Buyao Liangfang / Inexpensive Effective Prescriptions) 5. For sores on the lips: Apply white mume petals (Bai Meiban) to the sore; if it cracks and bleeds, the bleeding will stop immediately. (Chishui Xuanzhu / The Mysterious Pearl from the Red Water)
