Bencao yuanshi (Origins of Materia Medica) by Li Zhongli is a herbal in 12 volumes, containing 379 illustrations. It was first published in 1612. This illustration is taken from the revised edition of Ge Ding, engraved in 1638 (11th year of the Chongwen reign period of the Ming dynasty, Wu Yi year).
Li Zhongli writes: Morphology of the plantago plant. The plantago grows wild in the countryside and by the roadside. The leaves are spoon-shaped. It grows close to the ground. The fruits are small and thin, red and black in colour, and similar to lepidium apetalum (tingli). Either the entire plant or the seeds alone may be used in medicine. The plantago plant is sweet in sapor, cold in thermostatic character, and non-poisonous. It has the medicinal properties of clearing heat and purging dampness, improving vision and relieving stranguria. It is used to treat difficulty in urinating; urgency with scant and painful urination (pinji setong); blood in the urine and nosebleeds; red, inflamed and painful eyes, etc. Plantago seeds are sweet in sapor, cold in thermostatic character, and non-poisonous. They have the medicinal properties of clearing heat and promoting diuresis, improving vision and resolving phlegm. They are used to treat difficulty in urinating, gonorrhea (linzhuo) and vaginal discharge, red eyes with nebula (yizhang), summer-damp diarrhoea and dysentery, etc.
