Medicinals
fù zǐ / 附子 / 附子 / aconite [accessory root]
Latin pharmacognostic name: Aconiti Radix Lateralis Praeparata
Alternate English names:
Alternate Chinese names: 制附子 zhì fù zǐ; 熟附子 shú fù zǐ 熟附 shú fù; 附片 fù zǐ
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal and alimentary
Category: Interior-warming agents
Properties: Acrid and sweet; hot; toxic.
Channel entry: heart, spleen, and kidney channels.
Indications:
- Returns yáng and stems counterflow: Yáng collapse.
- Supplements fire and assists yáng: Yáng vacuity.
- Warms the channels, disperses cold, eliminates dampness, and relieves pain: Cold impediment.
- Disperses cold and frees the network vessels: Yīn flat-abscesses.
- Strengthens supplementing actions: When using rén shēn (人参 Ginseng Radix, ginseng) and huáng qí (黄芪 Astragali Radix, astragalus [root]) a small quantity of fù zǐ is sometimes added to strengthen the supplementing action of these medicinals.
Dosage & Method:
Oral: 3–15g. fù zǐ and its related medicinals chuān wū and cǎo wū (see Associated Medicinals below) should be predecocted for 30–60 minutes to reduce their toxicity.
Warning:
Contraindicated in pregnancy, in yīn vacuity with exuberant yáng, and in
Product Description:
The dried accessory tuber is roughly spindle-shaped, about 1.5–3 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter. It has shoot scars at the top and a pointed tip at the bottom and is covered with numerous timorous protuberances. It comes in several forms.
Quality:
Fat hard tubers are the best.
Product Area:
Sìchuān and Shǎnxī (Shaanxi).
Etymology:
The Chinese name fù zǐ 附子 means ""appendage,"" reflecting the fact that this is accessory tuber, rather than the main tuber.