Xiao Lizhi Artemisia selengensis

Xiao Lizhi Artemisia selengensis

　　Xiao Lizhi Artemisia selengensis is a specialty of Lishi Town, Shayang County, Jingmen City, Hubei Province. Shayang Lishi Artemisia selengensis is a beloved green health food. When cooked, it remains bright green, crisp, tender, and refreshing, with effects such as stimulating appetite, regulating qi, and invigorating the spirit. It also helps dispel rheumatism, strengthen the spleen and stomach, resolve phlegm, aid digestion, and enhance the body’s immune function.

　　Xiao Lizhi Artemisia selengensis is produced in Lishi Town, Shayang County. Also known as Artemisia selengensis, reed wormwood, willow wormwood, or chrysanthemum family wormwood, it is a wild herbaceous plant. Shayang is located on the Jianghan Plain, where the fertile land allows wild Artemisia selengensis to thrive year after year. Locals have long had the habit of gathering wild Artemisia selengensis for food, and by the early Ming Dynasty, it was offered annually as a “tribute” to Nanjing during the Qingming Festival. Artemisia selengensis contains vitamins, nicotinic acid, protein, and various other elements. In the “Shennong Bencao Jing” (The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica), Artemisia selengensis was listed as a top-grade wild vegetable. In 1993, Artemisia selengensis was planted extensively in Lishi Town, Shayang County, as part of the “Vegetable Basket Project.” Every year in the pleasant spring month of March, it is harvest season for Artemisia selengensis.