Xuan Fu Hua (Inula britannica chinensis)
At a glance
- Lifecycle
- Perennial (hardy)
- Exposure
- Full sun
- Frost limit
- −17.8 °C
Cultivation
Succeeds in a sunny position in any moderately fertile well-drained soil. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Plants are hardy to at least -15°c. This sub-species is the form that is most used medicinally, it is cultivated as a medicinal plant in China.
Propagation
Seed - sow spring or autumn in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer. If you have sufficient seed, it is worthwhile trying a sowing in situ in the spring or the autumn. Division in spring or autumn.
Edible uses
Leaves - cooked.
Medicinal uses
Xuan Fu Hua is used in Chinese herbalism as a mildly warming expectorant remedy and it is especially suitable where phlegm has accumulated in the chest. The leaf is discutient and vulnerary. The flowers are alterative, antibacterial, carminative, cholagogue, deobstruent, depurative, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, nervine, stomachic, tonic and vulnerary. The root is discutient, resolvent and vulnerary. The plant has been mentioned as a possible treatment for cancer of the oesophagus.
Habitat
Wet places in lowlands, especially by rivers, all over Japan.
Native range
E. Asia - China and Japan.