WITH spring in full bloom, it’s time for a countryside excursion. While enjoying the fresh air and beautiful spring weather, don’t forget to pick wormwood. Also called Artemisia Argyi, or aiye (艾叶) in Chinese, wormwood is a xerophile plant that grows on dry mountain slopes, steep riverbanks, coastal scrub, wastelands and along road and railway verges. The Chinese use its leaves widely in house decorations, daily health care and food. The best time to pick wormwood leaves is around the Dragon Boat Festival (the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, which falls on June 2 this year), when the plant is growing rapidly, but not yet blooming.

    The Chinese have a tradition of decorating houses with wormwood leaves around the Dragon Boat Festival, believing that the plant can ward off evil spirits. Wormwood leaves, made into shapes of human beings or animals, are usually hung on windows or doors. While some might dismiss this tradition as nonsense, the pungent fragrance of wormwood can drive away mosquitoes and, therefore, is very useful in hot weather.

    Medical treatment

    In traditional Chinese medicine, wormwood is considered to have bitter, pungent and warm properties and wormwood leaves are used as antiseptics, expectorants, febrifuges and styptics. A common use is in moxibustion, a form of healing in which the herb is burned in cones or sticks or on the tip of an acupuncture needle. It is believed that the heat from burning wormwood leaves can “resonate” with the human body and, therefore, wormwood moxibustion is used in treatments of various diseases. Legend has it that ancient doctors cured complicated diseases with wormwood moxibustion or wormwood-made drugs, although scientific support for such treatments is scarce. However, there are some easy therapies that are often recommended by Chinese medicine doctors with proven effects.

    Wormwood decoction

    Soaking feet in hot wormwood decoction until one gets a bit sweaty is a popular way to treat a cold. Drinking a decoction of sliced wormwood leaves, shallot leaves and ginger is also an effective cold treatment.

    Wormwood pillows

    Sleeping on pillows filled with ground wormwood leaves can help prevent stroke, cold and cervical vertebra ailments.

    Wormwood shoe pads

    Wearing shoe pads made with dry wormwood leaves can help treat athlete’s foot.

    Food

    Wormwood leaves are a popular food ingredient in southern China. They are often used in cakes, soups and other dishes. The most popular food, no doubt, is aiyebaba, a kind of cake made of glutinous rice flour and wormwood leaves. Below is the recipe.

    Main ingredients include 250 grams of wormwood leaves and 250 grams of glutinous rice flour.

    Clean the wormwood leaves and soak them in clean water for 24 hours to get rid of the bitterness. Soak the leaves in hot water for two minutes, take them out, then soak them in cold water for one more hour. Squeeze the leaves to remove the water and grind them into powder. Mix the glutinous rice flour and ground leaves together. Add water until the mixture becomes a dough that is not sticky. Form the dough into small cakes. Add sugar if desired for a sweet flavor. Place the cakes on corn leaves or grapefruit leaves and steam them for 10 minutes. The cakes are then ready to eat, tasting soft and smelling of spring.

    Side effects

    Wormwood contains thujone, a potentially poisonous chemical. While the 2008 European Union Regulation on Flavorings deregulated the food use of thujone, the European Medicines Agency introduced limits for the substance in 2009.

    Because of its thujone content, large doses of wormwood taken internally can lead to vomiting, stomach and intestinal cramps, headaches, dizziness, nervous system problems, and seizures. The New England Journal of Medicine reported that a man who ordered essential oil of wormwood over the Internet, thinking he had purchased absinthe, suffered liver failure shortly after drinking the oil.

    Like most herbs, wormwood has side effects, and the excessive taking of wormwood is not recommended. Rest assured, though, that eating several wormwood cakes — even if you eat them to your fill — is not going to put you in peril.

    Where to buy

    You can always buy dry wormwood leaves and wormwood sticks in drugstores which sell traditional Chinese medicine. It’s also possible to buy them from online shops at taobao.com or from big retailers such as jd.com or dangdang.com. Just search for “aiye” or “aitiao” (艾条), you will find many choices. Online shops also sell small gadgets that help you burn the wormwood sticks in a safe and convenient way in DIY Chinese medical treatment. The wormwood products from Qichun, Hubei Province and Nanyang, Henan Province are said to have superior quality and are recommended by doctors.