Properties: Pungent, cold, slightly toxic
Meridans Entered:
Primary: Liver, Lung and Stomach
Traditional Actions/Indications:
- Clears Heat and relieves Fire Toxicity
Warm-Heat Epidemic diseases with Fire Blazing (regardless of the level) with a tendency towards heat, high fever and mild chills, headache, red and swollen throat, dry mouth and thirst, red tongue, thin white coating, and floating pulse
Carbuncles and sores
Measles, mumps, encephalitis, pneumonia
- Cools the Blood and stops bleeding
Bloody dysentery, intestinal bleeding
Metrorrhagia, leukorrhea
Postpartum abdominal distension and pain
- Kills Parasites
Intestinal parasites including tapeworms, roundworms, pinworms (mild effect), liver fluke, threadworms and hookworms
- Expels Gu Parasites
Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
Suggested Daily Dosage: 5-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It is slightly poisonous, and large doses may affect vision and could cause irreversible blindness. Oily food is prohibited while taking this herb. It should be used cautiously to pregnant women.
Notable Constituents: See
Bai et al., (2024) for a review of its phytochemistry.
Appears in 3 formulae listed on this site: (click to display)
Research Links & References: (click to display)
Research Links:
Reference Notes:
Individual herb information has sourced mainly from TCM Wiki and American Dragon for basic data and then updated manually with my own notes. Zhou, Xie and Yan (2011): Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Vol. 5, and A+ Medical Encyclopaedia have been used for entries not available from those sources with additional material searched for and filled in where available. Western herbs not appearing in the Chinese literature have used Ross (2010): Combining Western Herbs and Chinese Medicine: A Clinical Materia Medica, White Rabbit Institute of Healing and therapeutika.ch. Choices of which source to use or combine have been my own.
These pages are intended to assist clinicians and are not intended for self-diagnosis or treatment for which a qualified professional should be consulted. Actions and indications are taken from traditional uses and do not necessarily reflect the evidence base which should be researched independently. Dosages are for guidance only and will vary dependening on the potency of the batch and the tolerance of the individual so should be evaluated by a professional based on individual needs.
