MEDICINAL VEGETABLES IN GUIZHOU PROVINCE OF CHINA

Abstract

Guizhou, a mountainous province located in southwestern China, has a great diversity of species of wild plants due to its temperate climate and abundant rainfall. Since Guizhou is rich in wild vegetables, the mountaineers there tend to take wild vegetables as medicine instead of going to hospital when they are sick. For instance, they often use cochin-chinese asparagus to cure constipation, cudweed and britlethistle to cure cough with sputa, shortlobed wormwood to cure epistaxis and melena, hirsute shiny to cure irregular menstruation of women, common self-heal to cure high blood pressure, longtube ground to cure common cold, purslane and Japanese clover to cure dysentery, etc. For the mountaineers, the wild herbs are both edible greens and medicine. Eating medicinal herbs is an excellent way of retaining healthy for the mountaineers. These medicinal herbs can prevent diseases and supply vitamins, minerals, cellulose and other elements necessary for normal and healthy development of human body. As a result, the mountaineers have good health and live long life. There are more than 100 species of Mild plants which are both edible and medicinal in Guizhou province according to my research and investigation for 50 decades.