Ze Lan

Lycopus lucidus var. hirtus (Lamiaceae), shiny bugleweed or Ze Lan, is an erect perennial herb 30-110 cm tall with characteristic square stems bearing retrorse pubescence along the angles and producing slender white stolons. Opposite, sessile to subsessile, narrowly lanceolate leaves 4-10 cm long have sharply serrate margins and a glossy upper surface that gives the species its name. Small whitish to pinkish two-lipped flowers are densely clustered in axillary verticillasters at the upper nodes from midsummer to autumn. Native to moist meadows, streamsides, marshes, and ditches across China, Korea, Japan, and the Russian Far East. The aerial parts are harvested at flowering, dried, and used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to invigorate blood and promote diuresis, particularly in gynecological disorders. (Sources: POWO; Wikipedia; Bensky)