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Latin pharmacognostic name: Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix

Alternate English names: large-leaved gentian [root] macrophylla [root]

Alternate Chinese names: 秦胶 qín jiāo; 秦纠 qín jiū; 秦爪 qín zhuǎ; 左秦艽 zuǒ qín jiāo; 大艽 dà jiāo; 左扭 zuǒ niǔ; 秦艽王 qín jiāo wáng

Kingdom: Plant

Origin in PRC Pharmacopoeia: Gentiana macrophylla Pall.; Gentiana dahurica Fisch.; Gentiana crassicaulis Duthie ex Burk.; Gentiana straminea Maxim. (PRC Pharmacopoeia)

Origin (other sources): Gentiana macrophylla Pall.*; Gentiana crassicaulis Duthie ex Burkill*; Gentiana tibetica King; Gentiana straminea Maxim.*; Gentiana dahurica Fisch.*; Gentiana kaufmanniana Reg. et Schmalh.; Gentiana siphonantha Maxim. ex Kuznez.; Gentiana tianschanica Rupr.; Gentiana walujewii Reg. et Schmalh.

Use: Medicinal

Category: Wind-damp–dispelling agents / Wind-damp-heat–dispelling agents

Properties: Bitter, acrid; slightly cold.

Channel entry: Stomach, liver, and gallbladder channels.

Indications:

• Dispels wind-damp and relieves impediment pain: Wind-damp impediment pain; hypertonicity of the sinews; paralysis of the limbs.
• Quickens the blood and luxuriates the sinews: Wind stroke hemiplegia.
• Abates vacuity heat: Steaming bone tidal heat effusion.
• Clears damp-heat: Damp-heat jaundice Additional uses: Qín jiāo is used to lubricate the intestines and free the stool in the treatment of habitual constipation. Because of this, qín jiāo is often called the moistening agent among wind medicinals.

Dosage & Method: Oral: 5–15g in decoctions. High-dose formulas may employ up to 30g.

Warnings: Contraindicated in spleen-stomach vacuity with thin sloppy stool.

Product Description: The root is cylindrical and slightly contorted, 6–20 cm long, and roughly 0.5–1 cm thick at the top. The exterior surface is a yellowish brown, with pronounced furrows. At the head are the remains of the leafstalk bases. There are many branch roots that branch again into fine roots, but these have often been removed. Large gentian root is supple and breaks with difficulty to leave an uneven fracture. The decocting pieces are oblique slices about 1 mm thick, on whose cut edge the skin is seen to be darker than the wood.

Quality: Large, fat, dry, oily roots with short heads stem base are the best.

Product Area: Gānsū, Sìchuān, and Shǎnxī (Shaanxi).

Etymology: The name qín jiāo 秦艽 derives from qín jiū 秦纠, literally Qín tangle, i.e., a product from Qín, i.e., Shǎnxī (Shaanxi) consisting of tangled roots.

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