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Alternate English names: plantain seed

Alternate Chinese names: 虾蟆衣子 há má yī zǐ; 车前实 chē qián shí

Kingdom: Plant

Origin in PRC Pharmacopoeia: Plantago asiatica L.; Plantago depressa Willd. (PRC Pharmacopoeia)

Origin in unofficial sources: Plantago asiatica L.* [= P. major L. var. asiatica Decaisne]; Plantago depressa Willd.*

Use: Medicinal

Category: Water-disinhibiting dampness-percolating agents / Urine-disinhibiting strangury-freeing agents

Properties: Sweet; cold.

Channel entry: Kidney, liver, and lung channels. (some sources also say bladder or small intestine channel.)

Actions and indications:

• Disinhibits water and frees strangury: Heat strangury with dribbling rough urination.
• Percolates dampness and checks diarrhea: Diarrhea due to summerheat-damp.
• Clears the liver and brightens the eyes: Painful red swollen eyes; dim, clouded vision; internal obstructions.
• Clears the lung and transforms phlegm: Phlegm-heat cough.

Dosage and method: Oral: 10–15g, decocted in a cloth bag.

Warnings: Contraindicated in kidney vacuity with seminal efflux.

Product description: This seed is elliptical, slightly flat, 2–3 mm long, and 1 mm wide. The exterior surface is pale brown, with black speckles. It is shiny and has linear markings and a white hilum. The dorsum bulges, while the base is flat. The cross section is grayish-white or pale yellow. It has little smell and has a glutinous quality most clearly observed when it is boiled.

Quality: Dry plump black seeds without shells are the best.

Production area: Jiāngxī, Hénán, Guǎngxī.

Etymology: Chē qián zǐ 车前子, literally before-the-cart seed, reflects the fact that this herb grows on roadsides and in cart tracks. This is also reflected by the alternate name dāng dào 当道, in the road.

See: Chē qián cǎo (车前草 Plantaginis Herba, plantago)

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