41. 淫羊藿 (yín yáng huò) – Barrenwort – Epimedium
Epimediom versicolor - Image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license.
I think I’m pretty much done in this topic, unless something unexpected turns up, but I feel I couldn’t leave you without this.
Epidemium is a group of flowering herbaceous perennials growing from a ginger-like rhizome. There are over 60 species in the group, most of which are native to China. It is not, I am happy to say, a herb that I have ever personally encountered or sought out.
I have however heard of it. The Chinese name, 淫羊藿 (yín yáng huò), is what first drew my attention out of linguistic interest. That first character 淫 (yín) appears in many words, nearly all referring to licentiousness, particularly derogatorily towards women. The second character 羊 (yáng) means ‘sheep’ or ‘goat’ and last, 藿 (huò) means ‘weed’.
English names include the above mentioned ‘barrenwort’ along with bishop's hat, fairy wings, and the delightful ‘horny goat weed’.
I’m told that the leaves are much appreciated as an aphrodisiac, not something I have any use for. The last English name mentioned comes from its flowers supposed resemblance to crushed goat testicles. Never having knowingly seen such things, I can’t attest to the accuracy of the nomenclature.
Thanks to @Tropicalseniorfor prompting me to start this whole spicy and herbal topic in the first place. It has been fun for me to explore and hopefully the same for some you out there, too.
