Library

Taste pungent, nature slightly warm, non-toxic. Mainly treats cholera (acute gastrointestinal disorder with vomiting and diarrhea), abdominal pain, vomiting and regurgitation, and mental restlessness. Grows in water; harvested in the fifth month.

Taste bitter, nature cold, non-toxic. Mainly treats five types of strangury (difficulty or inability to urinate), breaks down stone strangury (urinary calculi), and dissipates qi stagnation in the bladder. Promotes the flow of water passages and urination. Grows in the rivers and marshes of Nanyang.

Taste bitter, nature cold, non-toxic. Mainly treats fright qi, shanghan (cold damage syndrome), abdominal pain, emaciation, pathogenic factors lodged in the skin, and coldness of the hands and feet. Colorless; grows in the valleys of Yizhou.

Taste salty, nature neutral, non-toxic. Main nourishes heart qi, eliminates a warm, burning, and spicy sensation in the heart, and treats impetigo-like body heat. Can be processed into salt flowers. Grows along the Huai River and in plain marshes; harvested in the seventh month.

Taste bitter, nature slightly warm. Mainly treats coughing and rebellious qi, pathogenic factors in the five zang organs, harmonizes the middle jiao and benefits qi, brightens the eyes, kills lice. Qingfu, Baifu, Chifu, Heifu, and Huangfu each tonify their corresponding zang organ according to their color. Baifu is also known as Numu. Grows in the valleys of Ba Commandery.

Taste sweet and bitter, nature cold, non-toxic. Mainly treats warm malaria with alternating chills and fever, acidic and hoarse pathogenic factors, and wards off misfortune. Grows in the valleys of Huainan.

Taste sweet, nature cold and neutral, slightly toxic. Mainly descends deficient heat, benefits yin essence, makes the complexion lustrous and beautiful, and brightens the eyes. Long-term use lightens the body and delays aging. Used to make steamed wine for patients to drink. Grows on the plains and marshes of Songshan; harvested in the second and eighth months.

Taste bitter, nature neutral and cold, non-toxic. Mainly treats coughing with rebellious qi, alternating chills and fever, scrofula (tuberculous lymphadenitis), malignant sores, and pathogenic factors. Also known as [character missing]. Grows in Danshui.

Taste sour, non-toxic. Mainly descends qi and stops irritability and fullness. Can be used to make bathing decoctions. The medicinal material is yellow; grows in Shu Commandery; collected at Liqiu (Start of Autumn).

Taste bitter, nature slightly cold, non-toxic. Mainly treats pain under the chest and hypochondrium, pathogenic factors, alternating cold and heat in the intestines, and yin bi (bi-syndrome affecting the genital region). Long-term use lightens the body, benefits qi, and delays aging. Grows in the rivers and marshes of Hanzhong; harvested in the fifth month.

Taste bitter, nature cold, toxic. Mainly treats crusty ulcers, malignant and necrotic sores, and removes three parasites and pathogenic factors. Grows in the rivers and valleys of Yizhou; harvested in the second and eighth months.

Taste bitter, nature neutral, non-toxic. Mainly treats chronic cough with rebellious qi, deficiency and emaciation due to middle jiao injury, tonifies the middle and benefits qi, treats women’s vaginal erosion and leukorrhea (red and white discharge). Also known as Bai Sui. Chengzhongmu grows in the plains and marshes of Jinyang.

Taste bitter, nature warm, non-toxic. Mainly treats warm bi caused by pathogenic factors, chills and fever with carbuncles, removes fluid retention and blood stasis, treats amenorrhea leading to infertility, childhood paralysis preventing walking, various malignant sores and abscesses, stops abdominal pain, and enables conception. Also known as Tanpi. Grows in the valleys of Mount Tai; harvestable at any time.