Medicinals
é bù shí cǎo / 鹅不食草 / 鵝不食草 / centipeda
Latin pharmacognostic name: Centipedae Herba
Alternate English names:
Alternate Chinese names:
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal
Category: Exterior-resolving agents / Warm acrid exterior-resolving agents
Properties: Acrid; warm; nontoxic*.
Channel entry: lung and liver channels.*
Indications:
- Effuses the exterior and disperses cold: Wind-cold common cold.
- Frees the nose and opens the orifices: Deep-source nasal congestion (bí yuān) with headache and runny nose.
- Dispels phlegm and relieves cough: Cold phlegm cough and panting.
- Dispels wind and overcomes dampness: Wind-cold-damp impediment (fēng hán shī bì)
- Resolves toxin and disperses swelling: Toxin swelling of
sores and welling-abscesses;injury from knocks and falls .Dosage & Method:
Oral: Decoct 3–9g. If using the fresh product, double the amount and use the pressed juice or decoct. Topical: Apply the fresh product crushed. The dried product is crushed and applied mixed or used an insufflation.
Warning:
Traditional literature contraindicates use in qì vacuity and weak stomach, blood vacuity, pregnancy, lung-stomach heat, yáng repletion and exuberant fire, and yīn vacuity with effulgent fire.
Quality:
Best are grayish-green plants with inflorescences and without extraneous matter that cause sneezing when smelled closely.
Product Area:
Produced mainly in Zhèjiāng, Húběi, Jiāngsū, and Guǎngdōng, and to a lesser extent in Guǎngxī, Hénán, Jiāngxī, Fújiàn, and ānhuī.