Pfaf Plant Search

Achyranthes bidentata - Blume.

Common Name

Niu Xi

Family

Amaranthaceae

Synonyms

Known Hazards

One report suggests that the root is poisonous[179].

Habitats

Forest edges, the sides of streams and shrubberies[254]. Moist shady places at elevations of 1200 - 3000 metres in Nepal[272].

Range

E. Asia - China, Japan, India.

Edibility Rating

Medicinal Rating

Care

Summary

Physical Characteristics

PERENNIAL growing to 0.8 m (2ft 7in) by 0.4 m (1ft 4in).
It is hardy to zone 8. It is in flower from Aug to September, and the seeds ripen from Sep to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs)

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils.The plant prefers acid and neutral soils..It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade.It requires moist soil.


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Doronenko

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Doronenko

Habitats
Cultivated Beds;

Edible Uses
Edible Parts: Leaves; Seed. Seed - cooked. A good substitute for cereal grains in bread-making, they have often been used for this purpose in famine years[2, 177, 238]. The light brown oblong seed is about 1mm long[266]. Leaves - cooked[177, 178]. Used as a vegetable in the same manner as spinach[179].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

Anodyne; Antiasthmatic; Antiinflammatory; Antirheumatic; Bitter; Digestive; Diuretic; Emmenagogue; Odontalgic; Vasodilator.

The roots, leaves and stems are widely used in Chinese herbal medicine[238]. The roots contain triterpenoid saponins, sitosterol and sigmasterol[283]. They are anodyne, antiinflammatory, antirheumatic, bitter, digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue and vasodilator[238, 283]. They act predominantly on the lower half of the body and are used in the treatment of aching back and knees and asthenia of the lower limbs[176, 238, 254]. Research suggests that they can cause dilation of the cervix and so this herb should not be used when pregnant[238]. The herb is taken internally to treat hypertension, back pains, urine in the blood, menstrual pain, bleeding etc[238, 283]. It lowers blood cholesterol levrels and so is used in the treatment of atherosclerosis[283]. The root juice is used in Nepal in the treatment of toothache[272]. This juice is also used in the treatment of indigestion and is considered to be a good treatment for asthma[272]. The stem of the plant is used as a toothbrush that is said to be good for the teeth and is also a treatment for pyorrhoea[272]. The plant can be used fresh or dried. The leaves and stems are harvested in the summer and are usually crushed for their juice or used in tinctures[238]. The roots are harvested from 1 or 2 year old plants in the autumn or winter and usually dried and ground into a powder or used in decoctions[238].

Other Uses
Insecticide; Teeth. Two insect-moulting hormones are found in the roots[174]. Can this have a practical application as an insecticide? The stem of the plant is used as a toothbrush that is said to be good for the teeth and is also a treatment for pyorrhoea[272].

Cultivation details
Prefers a rich, sandy, slightly acid soil in partial shade[238]. This species is probably not hardy in the colder areas of the country, it tolerates temperatures down to at least -5°c[238]. When grown in a rich soil the roots can be up to 1.2 metres long[238]. Widely cultivated in China, especially in Henan Province, as a medicinal plant[238] and as a food plant[179].

Propagation
Seed - sow late spring in a greenhouse. Germination should be fairly rapid, prick out the seedlings into individual pots of fairly rich soil when they are large enough to handle. It is probably wise to grow this plant on in the greenhouse for its first winter, planting it out into its permanent position in late spring after the last expected frosts.

Expert comment

Author
Blume.

Botanical References
74238266

Links / References

[2]Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World.

Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[174]Kariyone. T. Atlas of Medicinal Plants.

A good Japanese herbal.

[176]Yeung. Him-Che. Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas.

An excellent Chinese herbal giving information on over 500 species. Rather technical and probably best suited to the more accomplished user of herbs.

[177]Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption.

An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[178]Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica.

A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.

[179]Reid. B. E. Famine Foods of the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao.

A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.

[238]Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses.

A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[254]Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants

An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

[266] Flora of China

On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

[272]Manandhar. N. P. Plants and People of Nepal

Excellent book, covering over 1,500 species of useful plants from Nepal together with information on the geography and peoples of Nepal. Good descriptions of the plants with terse notes on their uses.

[283]Nguyen Van Dan & Doan Thi Nhu Medicinal Plants in Vietnam

An excellent book, giving information on over 200 plants, their medicinal compounds and applications.

Readers comment

Rate This Plant
Please rate this plants for how successful you have found it to be. You will need to be logged in to do this. Our intention is not to create a list of 'popular' plants but rather to highlight plants that may be rare and unusual and that have been found to be useful by website users. This hopefully will encourage more people to use plants that they possibly would not have considered before.

Add a comment/link

If you have important information about this plant that may help other users please add a comment or link below. Only comments or links that are felt to be directly relevant to a plant will be included. If you think a comment/link or information contained on this page is inaccurate or misleading we would welcome your feedback at admin@pfaf.org. If you have questions about a plant please use the Forum on this website as we do not have the resources to answer questions ourselves.

* Please note: the comments by website users are not necessarily those held by PFAF and may give misleading or inaccurate information.

Subject : Achyranthes bidentata

Links	To add a link to another website with useful info add the details here
Name of Site
URL of Site
Details

Discussion Monitor
To have posts to this page mailed to you enter your email address here: (Your email address will not appear on the webpage or be passed on to third parties).

Your Address :