Scutellaria Barbata (Ban Zhi Lian) is the dried whole plant of Scutellaria barbata D. Don of the Labiatae family.  The herb is harvested in the summer and autumn when the foliate branches grow luxuriantly.  It is then washed clean, and dried in the sun.  The herb is used for boils, sores, sore and swollen throat, venomous snakebite, injuries, edema and jaundice.  The daily dosage is 15-30 grams of dried herb, or 30-60 grams of the fresh herb.  Also, it can be grounded into paste and applied topically.

Scutellaria Barbata (Ban Zhi Lian)

The whole herb contains active constituents: scutellarin, scutellarein, carthamidin, and isocarthamidin flavones.  In addition, it contains β-sitosterol, steraricacid, alkaloids, and polysaccharides.  According to Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China, the dried herb should contain not less than 1.50% of total flavones, calculated as scutellarin (C21H18O12), and not less than 0.20% of scutellarin (C21H18O12).  According to pharmacological researches, Scutellaria Barbata (Ban Zhi Lian) can remove toxic heat and induce urination.

Scutellaria Barbata (Ban Zhi Lian), also known as Xia Ye (literally means narrow-leafed) Han Xin Cao, is the same genus as Scute (Huang Qin), and grows throughout most of China, except for the arid regions of the Northwest and the highlands of the Northeast.  Originally it was a plant that grows in the wild, but in the 1970’s, it was cultivated in Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shandong and Sichuan provinces, and sold on the open market.

Records in Materia Medica

Scutellaria Barbata (Ban Zhi Lian) was originally used as a folk medicine, and according to historical records, it has been in use for at least a few hundred years.  It is well known as a treatment for abscesses, boils and poisonous snakebites.  The earliest record of Scutellaria Barbata (Ban Zhi Lian) is in the Orthodox Lineage of External Medicine (Wai Ke Zheng Zong), written by Shi-gong Chen in 1617.  In the section dealing with snakebites he says, “Mash Ban Zhi Lian into a pulp in order to get 2 tael of its juice, take with 4 tael of hot liquor; the juice is quite effective. Taking the pulp and spreading it on the bite is also miraculously effective.”

Botanical Description

Scutellaria barbate D. Don (Labiatae family) is 15-35 cm long, glabrous or sparsely pubescent on the floral axis.  The roots are slender.  The stems are fascicled, relatively thin, and square.  The surface of the stem is dark purple or brownish-green.  The leaves are opposite and short petioled.  The foliage is mostly crumpled.  When flatted, the foliage is triangular-ovate or lanceolate, 1.5-3 cm long, and 0.5-1 cm wide. The leaves are obtuse at the apex, broadly cuneate at the base, and entirely or indistinctly crenate.  The upper surface of the leaves is dark green, and the lower surface is greyish-green.  The flowers are solitary in the leaf axis of the upper part of the branches.  Lobes of calyx are obtuse or slightly rounded.  The corolla are bilabiate, brownish-yellow, or pale bluish-purple, about 1.2 cm long, and pubescent.  The fruits are oblate and light brown.  The aroma of the fruit is light, and the taste is slightly bitter.  The blooming season is from May to October, and the fruiting season is from June to November.

Cultivation & Production

Scutellaria Barbata (Ban Zhi Lian) is a perennial herbaceous plant that thrives in warm and moist climates.  It is best grown in loose, fertile soil with good drainage or in sandy soil.  It can be propagated from both seed and cuttings, but direct sowing of seeds is the primary planting method.  In the Northern areas, planting takes place from March to April, whereas in the Southern growing areas are best suited for an autumn sowing in the beginning of October.  Seeds are either sown in rows or planted directly in holes.  Once plants are 5-7 cm high, they are transplanted with extra soil to ensure their survival.  Plants should be watered after extended periods of dryness.  During the rainy season, it is important to keep irrigation ditches cleared of debris.

Scutellaria Barbata (Ban Zhi Lian) is virtually uninfected by disease or insects in the course of its development.  However, during its flowering phase, it may become infected with aphids or cabbage caterpillars; and once weeds begin to sprout, it is necessary to remove them.  Currently, most weed removal is performed by hand.  In the latter part of the fruiting season, while the seeds are maturing, the above ground part of the plant, seeds and all, is harvested, dried, cleaned, seeds removed, and stored in a dry place in a cloth bag.  The seeds of Scutellaria Barbata (Ban Zhi Lian) are not kept for planting the following season as it can be planted continuously for about 3 to 4 years before the growth rate begins to drop. Once the growth drops sharply, the soil should be rotated by planting other crops.

Harvesting & Processing

The entire plant of Scutellaria Barbata (Ban Zhi Lian) that grows above the ground is used as medicine.  Because it has a long blooming season, both flowers and fruits are used as the medicinal herb.  Scutellaria Barbata (Ban Zhi Lian) raised from seed is harvested once in May, July and September of the following year.  The ones raised from cuttings are harvested in September of the same year.  Thus, harvesting can be done three times per year.  The entire plant is harvested with a sickle, removes weeds and cleaned, tied into small bundles, and sun or shade dried.  Harvest in the each of the Southern provinces is about 450-500 kilos per 100 square meters per year. In the North, amounts range from 300-350 kilos per 100 square meters per year.  In general, the herbs that are green and bitter are considered to be the best quality.

                         Weed Removal By Hand                                               Tool for Weed Removal