He Ye Di

Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. (Nelumbonaceae), the sacred lotus, is an aquatic perennial herb native to Asia and northern Australia, rooted in mud with thick rhizomes and large, peltate, water-repellent leaves rising on long petioles above the water surface. The medicinal He Ye Di is specifically the leaf base, comprising the central petiole-leaf junction trimmed from the round leaf blade. It is collected in summer when the leaves are mature. The leaf base contains the same alkaloids (nuciferine, roemerine) and flavonoids found in the broader leaf but is concentrated and traditionally distinguished in TCM practice. He Ye Di is bitter, neutral, and enters the spleen and stomach channels; it clears summerheat, raises clear yang, harmonizes the stomach, and stops bleeding, used particularly for summer diarrhea, postpartum bleeding, and bloody discharges. Lotus is culturally and medicinally significant across Asian traditions including Ayurveda.