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Latin pharmacognostic name: Plantaginis Semen

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 (other 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.)

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 & 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.

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

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