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Latin pharmacognostic name: Picrorhizae Rhizoma

Alternate Chinese names: 胡莲 hú lián; 胡连 hú lián

Kingdom: Plant

Origin in PRC Pharmacopoeia: Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora Penell. (PRC Pharmacopoeia)

Origin (other sources): Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth.; Picrorhiza scrophulariaeflora Penell*

Use: Medicinal

Category: Heat-clearing agents / Vacuity-heat–clearing agents

Properties: Bitter; cold.

Channel entry: Liver, stomach, and large intestine channels. (also enters the heart channel according to some sources.)

Indications:

• Abates vacuity heat: Steaming bone tidal heat effusion.
• Eliminates gān heat effusion: gān accumulation with heat effusion (malnutrition with fever).
• Clears damp-heat: Damp-heat dysentery; painful swollen hemorrhoids.

Dosage & Method: Oral: 3–10g in decoctions.

Warnings: Use with care in spleen-stomach vacuity cold.

Quality: P. kurrooa: Thick bitter-tasting rhizomes that produce a powder on snapping and are blackish gray on the fractured surface are best. P. scrophulariaeflora: Thick rhizomes without fine roots are the best.

Product Area: Picrorhiza kurrooa: Indian Himalayas. Picrorhiza scrophulariaeflora: Tibet and western Yúnnán.

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