Callicarpa nudiflora

Callicarpa nudiflora

　　Callicarpa nudiflora Hook.et Arn. is a plant of the genus Callicarpa in the family Verbenaceae. It is mainly produced in regions south of the Yangtze River in China, distributed across provinces such as Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan. The plant thrives in mountainous areas with mild climates, humid air, and elevations between 100–850 meters.

　　Brief Description:

　　A shrub or small tree, growing (1)–3–4–(7) meters tall; old branches are hairless with prominent lenticels, while young branches, petioles, and inflorescences are densely covered with grayish-brown branched pubescence. Leaves are ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 12–22 cm long and 4–7 cm wide, with acute or acuminate tips, obtuse or slightly rounded bases, dark green upper surfaces that turn black upon drying, nearly glabrous except for stellate hairs on the main veins, and densely grayish-brown pubescent and branched undersides with 14–18 pairs of lateral veins that are raised on the underside and margins that are serrulate or slightly undulate; petioles are 1–2 cm long.

　　The cymes are spreading, with 6–9 orders of branching, 8–13 cm wide, peduncles 3–8 cm long, and pedicels about 1 mm long; bracts are linear or lanceolate; calyx is cup-shaped, usually glabrous, truncate or with inconspicuous 4 teeth at the apex; corolla is purple or pink, glabrous, about 2 mm long; stamens are 2–3 times longer than the corolla, with small, elliptical anthers and longitudinally dehiscent thecae; ovary is glabrous.

　　Fruits are subglobose, about 2 mm in diameter, red, turning black upon drying. Flowering period is from June to August, fruiting period from August to December.

　　Harvesting and Processing

　　Can be harvested year-round, preferably in summer and autumn. The leaves are used medicinally; impurities are removed and then the leaves are dried in the sun.

　　Functions and Uses

　　Properties: Bitter, slightly acrid, neutral

　　Efficacy: Anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, astringent, hemostatic. Used for suppurative inflammation, acute infectious hepatitis, burns or scalds, and traumatic bleeding. Common dosage is 9–30 grams. For external use, apply an appropriate amount of concentrated decoction to affected areas.