medicinal herbs
Cao Yu Mei
Anemone rivularis

• Medicinal herbs
• Natural herbs
• Latin names
• Common names

Herb: Cao Yu Mei

Latin name: Anemone rivularis

Family: Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family)

Medicinal use of Cao Yu Mei:

The plant is said to be antiemetic and vermifuge. It is said to warm the stomach and stop vomiting. A paste made from the plant is used in Nepal to treat coughs and fevers. The juice of the leaf, mixed with water, is inhaled through each nostril to treat sinusitis. The seeds are used in Tibetan medicine, they are said to have a bitter and acrid taste with a heating potency. Analgesic and antidote, they are used in the treatment of rotting tissues, snake poisoning and stomach/intestinal pain from worm infestation. A decoction of the root is applied externally to cuts and wounds.

Description of the plant:

Habitat of the herb:

Meadows, forest clearings, bunds between paddy fields, streamsides and hedges. Under alpine brush in the Himalayas, 4000 - 5000 metres.

Edible parts of Cao Yu Mei:

Seeds - roasted and pickled.

Propagation of the herb:

Seed - best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe in the summer. Surface sow or only just cover the seed and keep the soil moist. Sow stored seed as soon as possible in late winter or early spring, it requires 3 - 5 weeks cold stratification. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 6 months at 20°C. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on for at least their first year in a lightly shaded place in a greenhouse. When large enough, plant them out into their permanent positions in the spring. Division in late summer after the plant dies down.

Cultivation of Cao Yu Mei:

Meadows, forest clearings, bunds between paddy fields, streamsides and hedges. Under alpine brush in the Himalayas, 4000 - 5000 metres.

Known hazards of Anemone rivularis:

Although no specific mention has been seen for this species, a number of members of this genus are slightly poisonous, the toxic principle is destroyed by heat or by drying.

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.