|
Bamboo Shavings | Caulis Bambusae In Taenia | 竹茹 (Zhuru)
| Source: |
Stem |
|
| Property: |
Slightly Cold |
| Taste: |
Sweet |
| Channel: |
Influences the lungs and stomach channels. |
| Actions: |
To remove heat, resolve phlegm, relieve restlessness and arrest vomiting. |
| Indications: |
Cough due to heat and phlegm; restlessness, vomiting, palpitationss and insomnia caused by excessive fire in the gall bladder; stroke with impairment of consciousness; stiff tongue and vomiting due to heat in the stomach; hyperemesis gravidarum; threatened abortion. |
Biond Magnolia Flower | Flos Magnoliae | 辛夷 (Xinyi)
| Also known as: |
Magnolia | 辛夷花 (Xinyihua) |
 |
| Source: |
Flower bud |
| Property: |
Warm |
| Taste: |
Pungent |
| Channel: |
Influences the lungs and stomach channels. |
| Actions: |
To dispel wind-cold and relieve nasal obstruction. |
| Indications: |
Headache and nasal obstruction due to exterior wind-cold; sinusitis with purulent discharge. |
Black Sesame | Semen Sesami Nigrum | 黑芝麻 (Heizhima)
| Also known as: |
Black Sesame Seed | 胡麻仁 (Humaren) |
 |
| Source: |
Seed |
| Property: |
Neutral |
| Taste: |
Sweet |
| Channel: |
Influences the liver, kidney and large intestine channels. |
| Actions: |
To tonify the Liver and the Kidneys, replenish Vital essence and Blood, and relax the bowels. |
| Indications: |
Dizziness; blurred vision; tinnitus; impaired hearing; premature greying of the hair and beard; loss of hair after a serious disease; constipation. |
Blackberrylily Rhizome | Rhizoma Belamcandae | 射干 (Shegan)
| Also known as: |
Belamcanda |
 |
| Source: |
Rhizome |
| Property: |
Cold |
| Taste: |
Bitter |
| Channel: |
Influences the lung channel. |
| Actions: |
To remove toxic-heat, eliminate phlegm and soothe sore throat. |
| Indications: |
Sore throat, cough and dyspnea with expectoration of copious phlegm due to accumulation of toxic heat, phlegm and fire. |
Cablin Patchouli Herb | Herba Pogostemonis | 广藿香 (Guanghuoxiang)
| Also known as: |
Patchouli |
 |
| Source: |
Aerial Part of Herb |
| Property: |
Slightly Warm |
| Taste: |
Pungent |
| Channel: |
Influences the spleen, stomach and lung channels. |
| Actions: |
To resolve dampness, whet appetite, arrest vomiting, release the exterior and expel summer-dampness. |
| Indications: |
Stuffiness in the epigastrium and vomiting due to dampness in the spleen and stomach; constriction in the chest and lassitude due to summer-dampness; abdominal pain; vomiting; sinusitis with headache due to cold, dampness and summer-heat. |
Canton Love-pea Vine | Herba Abri | 鸡骨草 (Jigucao)
| Source: |
Whole Herb |
|
| Property: |
Cool |
| Taste: |
Sweet, Slightly bitter |
| Channel: |
Influences the liver and stomach channel.
|
| Actions: |
To remove toxic heat stagnant, relieve the depressed liver qi and alleviate pain. |
| Indications: |
Jaundice with hypochondriac distress and epigastric distension and pain; acute and chronic heptatitis; mastitis. |
Carbonized Hair | Crinis Carbonisatus | 血余炭 (Xueyutan)
| Source: |
Human hair |
|
| Property: |
Neutral |
| Taste: |
Bitter |
| Channel: |
Influences the liver and stomach channels. |
| Action: |
To arrest bleeding and remove blood stasis. |
| Indications: |
Hematemesis; epistaxis; hematuria; abnormal uterine bleeding and traumatic bleeding. |
Cassia Bark | Cortex Cinnamomi | 肉桂 (Rougui)
| Also known as: |
Cinnamon Bark |
 |
| Source: |
Stem bark |
| Property: |
Severe Hot
|
| Taste: |
Pungent, Sweet |
| Channel: |
Influences the kidney, spleen, heart, and liver channels. |
| Actions: |
To reinforce yang, lead the fire back to the kidneys, dispel cold, relieve pain, promote blood circulation and stimulate menstruation. |
| Indications: |
Impotence; frigidity; feeling of cold and pain at the loins and knees; dyspnea due to deficiency of the kidney; dizziness, inflammation of the eyes and sore throat due to yang deficiency; precordial and abdominal pain with cold sensation; vomiting and diarrhoea due to deficiency-cold syndrome; neurosis with a feeling of gas rushing up through the chest to the throat from the lower abdomen; amenorrhea; dysmenorrhea. |
Cassia Seed | Semen Cassiae | 决明子 (Juemingzi)
| Source: |
Seed |
 |
| Property: |
Slightly Cold |
| Taste: |
Sweet, Bitter, Salty |
| Channel: |
Influences the liver and large intestine channels. |
| Actions: |
To remove heat, improve vision, and induce laxation. |
| Indications: |
Inflammation of the eyes with pain, photophobia and lacrimination; headache, dizziness, blurred vision and constipation. |
Centipede | Scolopendra | 蜈蚣 (Wugong)
| Source: |
Insect Sources |
|
| Property: |
Warm |
| Taste: |
Pungent; Toxic |
| Channel: |
Influences the liver channel. |
| Actions: |
To relieve convulsions, counteract poisons, dissolve nodulation, remove obstruction of collaterals and alleviate pain. |
| Indications: |
Infantile convulsions; tetanus; apoplectic hemiplegia; chronic rheumatic or rheumatoid arthritis; sores; lymphadenitis; venomous snake-bite. |
|
References:
- State Pharmacopoeia Commission of PRC, Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China, 2005 ed.1, by People's Medical Publishing House, December 2005
- Zhao Zhongzhen, An Illustrated Chinese Materia Medica in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, May 2004
- Eu Yan Sang International Holdings Pte Ltd, The Eu Yan Sang Heritage: An Anthology of Chinese Herbs and Medicines, Eu Yan Sang International Holdings Pte Ltd, December 1998
Photo Courtesy of School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University. |
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