Chinese Herb Article - Lilu (Insanity Grass; Black False Hellebore )

Lilu is a toxic herb, which even a goat or a cow will not eat. But how did this plant become an herb for curing diseases since it's so toxic?



As the story goes, a child by the name of Lilu suffered from epilepsy and during a seizure, he would often become so violent that he would harm other children in the neighbourhood.

In fact, one time he hurt a child so severely that his parents were forced to pay a large sum of money in compensation.

One day Lilu's parents and his brothers were talking about the situation with Lilu and the oldest son said, “What if Lilu kills someone the next time? If that happens, the whole family would suffer terribly.”

“I agree,” said another brother, “so why don't we put Lilu to death?” Lilu's parents felt terrible about the thought of putting him to death, but since they couldn't figure out a better solution, they remained silent.

The following day, Lilu was undergoing another epileptic seizure. Anticipating the possibility of violence, Lilu's oldest brother pushed him to the ground and forced a cup of fresh black false hellebore juice into his mouth, in an attempt to poison him to death. Lilu began to vomit a few minutes later. His brother then forced another cup of the juice into his mouth and Lilu began to vomit again. When Lilu finally stopped vomiting, he got up and walked into the kitchen to eat a bowl of rice.

From that point on, Lilu never had another seizure. This herb was appropriately named after Lilu.

---

Return to Chinese Herbal Remedies - Articles and Tips