Yi Zhi Huang Hua

Yi Zhi Huang Hua (一枝黃花) is the whole aerial plant or dried herb of Solidago decurrens Lour. (Asteraceae), a perennial goldenrod widely distributed in central, southern, and eastern China, where it grows in hillsides, grassy slopes, and forest margins to about 1 meter tall. Stems are erect with alternate lanceolate to oblanceolate serrate leaves, terminating in narrow panicles of small golden-yellow capitula in late summer and autumn. The whole plant is harvested at flowering and dried. In TCM, it is classified as pungent, bitter, and cool, entering the Lung and Liver channels, and is used to clear heat, detoxify, dispel wind, and reduce swelling for sore throat, common cold, and skin infections. Western herbal goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea and allies) shares diuretic and urinary-tract uses.