Yue Ji Hua

Yue Ji Hua is the flower of Rosa chinensis Jacq. (Rosaceae), the China rose, a deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub 1–2 m tall native to central and southwestern China and widely cultivated worldwide. Stems bear scattered, stout, hooked prickles. Leaves are pinnately compound with 3–5 ovate, glabrous, sharply serrate leaflets and stipules adnate to the petiole. Flowers are solitary or in few-flowered corymbs, 4–6 cm across, with five (in wild forms) to many (in cultivars) petals ranging from pink to crimson, and a fragrant, repeat-blooming habit. The hypanthium develops into a smooth, ovoid to subglobose red hip 1–2 cm long. Buds and partly opened flowers are harvested in summer and dried in the shade to preserve color and aroma. The flowers are used in TCM to regulate Liver qi and invigorate Blood.