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[Ku Hu (Bitter Bottle Gourd)]
Taste: Bitter. Nature: Cold. Indications: Mainly treats severe edema of the whole body, causing swelling of the face, eyes, and limbs. Administration promotes urination but induces vomiting. Habitat: Grows in rivers and marshes.
Description: It possesses soft vines and slender branches, hanging high in autumn. Its fallen fruit has no fixed shape (or refers to its irregular form); because it is considered "useless" for construction, it is commonly used as an auxiliary floating device for crossing water (e.g., tied around the waist to aid swimming). If trampled by hooves, its nature changes; the toxicity can be neutralized with juice from millet chaff ash. The superior quality Ku Hu has fleshy white flesh, fine and lustrous textures, and is clean without spots or blemishes.
Ma Jiuchou wrote in poetry: "Weak vines and soft tendrils gradually wind back." Fan Chengda wrote in poetry: "Reaching toward the sky, there must be a purpose." *Zhuangzi* mentions: "Worrying that the gourd is too large to have any container for it." *Guoyu* states: "The bitter gourd is useless [for other purposes], serving only to help people cross water." Wang Ji said: Some original varieties change from sweet to bitter; folk custom attributes this to being trampled by cattle and horses. Su Gong said: For those who suffer from incessant vomiting and diarrhea due to excessive consumption of bitter gourd, millet chaff ash juice can be used to resolve the toxicity. Whenever using Ku Hu, the best are those with fine textures, lustrous cleanliness, and no blemishes. Monk Daoyan wrote in poetry: "Tender gourds are fat and white..." Lu You wrote in poetry: "In the home garden, melons and gourds gradually become round..."

[Shui Jin (Water Dropwort / Water Celery)]
Taste: Sweet. Nature: Neutral. Indications: Mainly treats leukorrhea (red discharge) in women; stops bleeding, nourishes essence, protects blood vessels, tonifies Qi, makes the body robust and strong, and increases appetite. Alias: Shui Ying. Habitat: Grows in ponds and marshes.
Description: Emphasizes purity and clarity; its taste is exquisite like celery and young grass shoots. It grows in pure soil like jade fields, with roots white as jade, born in green streams and blue mud. It serves as a delicious offering for sacrifices or banquets, presented neatly in spring dishes. The Sovereign contemplates presenting it, spreading virtue among the common people.
*Shijing Shu* (Commentary on the Book of Songs) says: "Gathering celery emphasizes purity and clarity." *Lüshi Chunqiu* records: "Among vegetables, the most exquisite are the celery of Yunmeng." Zhu Xi wrote in poetry: "When shall I plant in the jade fields? When will the jade root sprout at one time?" Gao Qi wrote in poetry: "Cooking rice reminds me of green mud; cooking soup makes me think of green streams." *Zhouli* (Rites of Zhou) records: "Adding beans' contents: pickled celery and rabbit paste." *Sishi Baojing* (Four Seasons Treasure Mirror) records Li E of the Eastern Jin Dynasty: "On the Day of Start of Spring, radish and celery are made into vegetable dishes and exchanged as gifts." Ji Kang wrote in letters: "A rustic person enjoys warming his back on the sun and finds celery seeds delicious, wishing to present them to the Sovereign." *Shijing* (Book of Songs) says: "The multitudes and common people are all covered by your virtue."