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Latin pharmacognostic name: Caryophylli Flos

Alternate Chinese names: 雄丁香 xióng dīng xiāng; 支解香 zhī jiě xiāng; 丁子 dīng zǐ; 丁子香 dīng zǐ xiāng; 公丁香 gōng dīng xiāng

Kingdom: Plant

Origin in PRC Pharmacopoeia: Eugenia caryophyllata Thunb. (PRC Pharmacopoeia)

Origin (other sources): Eugenia caryophyllata Thunb.*; Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. et Perry [= Eugenia caryophyllata Thunb.]

Use: Medicinal and alimentary

Category: Interior-warming agents

Properties: Acrid; warm.

Channel entry: Stomach, spleen, and kidney channels.

Indications:

• Warms the center and downbears counterflow: Vomiting and hiccup due to stomach cold.
• Disperses cold and relieves pain: Stomach cold with cold pain in the stomach duct and abdomen.
• Warms the kidney and assists yáng: Uterine cold or impotence, due to kidney vacuity.
• Additional uses: Dīng xiāng may be prepared as a medicinal liquor or as a decoction for external application to treat lichen patterns. Nowadays, the essential oil is extracted as a topical pain-relieving preparation for toothache.

Dosage & Method: Oral: 1.5–6 g in decoctions; also used externally.

Warnings: Dīng xiāng fears the medicinal yù jīn (Curcumae Radix); it is contraindicated in heat patterns, including yīn vacuity with heat.

Product Description: This is a short club-shaped bud, about 1.5–2 cm long, and reddish-brown in color. The lower part is a slightly squared cylindrical calyx about 1–1.3 cm long, 5 mm wide, and 3 mm thick, that tapers at the base and exudes oil when scratched. At the top of the calyx are four fat sepals, each 3 mm long. The upper part is a sphere roughly 6 mm in diameter, comprising four petals folded around each other. The bud cuts open to reveal numerous stamens curled toward the center, in which there is a thick straight style. It is oily in substance.

Quality: Best are large dry unopened buds that have no stalk, are oily in substance, and sink in water.

Product Area: Guǎngdōng, Indonesia, Malaysia (Penang), the Moluccas, Zanzibar, and Madagascar.

Etymology: Dīng xiāng 丁香, literally nail aroma or aromatic nail, describes the shape and scent of this item. The English name clove comes from the Latin clavus, which also means nail.

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