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Shuisu (Perilla frutescens var. acuta)

Taste: Pungent. Nature: Slightly warm. Toxicity: Non-toxic.
Main actions: Directs Qi downward, promotes digestion of grains, eliminates food stagnation, removes bad breath, detoxifies, and dispels foul odors. Long-term consumption enhances spiritual clarity, lightens the body, and delays aging. It treats hematemesis (vomiting blood), epistaxis (nosebleed), and metrorrhagia (uterine bleeding).

Alternative names: Jisu (Chicken Perilla), Laozu, Jie (pronounced "Zu"), Jieju (pronounced "Qiyu").

Tao Hongjing stated: This herb is not used in official prescriptions, and common people are unfamiliar with it. Jiuzhen Commandery is remote, and few can locate it. The *Tang Bencao* commentary notes: This type of Perilla grows on wet riverbanks; its seedlings resemble *Inula japonica* (Xuanfu); leaves grow in opposite pairs; it has a strong, fragrant aroma. People in Qingzhou, Qidi, and Hejian call it Shuisu; those in Jiangzuo call it Qizhe; those in Wuhui call it Jisu.

[Text fragment]: Crushed and wrapped in silk, inserted into the ear to treat deafness. Additionally, for headache due to wind and vertigo, boil one sheng of juice in clear wine and drink it. For postpartum wind-stroke, taking this herb is particularly beneficial. It can be burned to ash to make lye or boiled for juice to wash hair, making it fragrant and preventing dandruff. Furthermore, storing it to brew wine or soak in wine, and consuming it regularly, is excellent.

Ri Hua Zi stated: Jisu is warming. It treats lung abscess (Feiwei), metrorrhagia, leukorrhea, bloody dysentery, headache due to wind, vertigo, postpartum wind-stroke, and uncontrollable bleeding. Also known as Chousu and Qingbaishu.

*Tujing* states: Shuisu grows in the ponds and marshes of Jiuzhen Commandery but is now found everywhere. It mostly grows by water banks; seedlings resemble *Inula japonica*; leaves grow in opposite pairs; it is strongly fragrant. In Qingzhou and Jizhou, it is called Shuisu; in Jiangzuo, Qizhe; in Wuhui, Jisu. Southerners often use it as a vegetable. It treats various Qi disorders and leg edema. Many in the north believe Jisu and Shuisu are two different plants. Chen Cangqi argued that Qizhe is a distinct substance, not Shuisu. Shuisu leaves have serrated edges like goose teeth and smell pungent like Elsholtzia (Xiangru); Qizhe leaves have hairs, are slightly longer, and have an unpleasant odor. It treats cold-Qi-induced diarrhea and dysentery and can be eaten raw. It clears acid water from the stomach and can be crushed and applied externally to treat ant bites. There is also a variety growing on rocks, named Shi Qizhe, which has purple flowers, small leaves, grows one to two chi tall, tastes pungent, is slightly warm, non-toxic, treats wind-blood and cold-Qi, and is commonly used by mountain dwellers when boiled as juice.

Meishi Fang: Treats hematemesis, lower bleeding, and uterine dripping in women. Decoct the stems and leaves of Jisu, take the juice, and drink it. Another prescription: For intractable epistaxis. Take five he of fresh Jisu and two he of Fermented Soybean (Xiangchi), pound and grind together, shape into pieces the size of a jujube pit, insert into the nostril to stop bleeding. Another prescription: For sudden severe metrorrhagia approaching death, boil one sheng and drink it.

*Yanyi* states: The flavor and nature of Shuisu differ from Zisu (Purple Perilla). It is pungent but not harmonious; however, it resembles Perilla generally, except the leaves are not purple, and the margins are serrated like goose teeth, with less fragrance.