Medicinals
jì cài / 荠菜 / 薺菜 / shepherd's purse
Latin pharmacognostic name: Capsellae Bursa-Pastoris Herba
Alternate English names:
Alternate Chinese names: 护生菜 hù shēng cài; 鸡心菜 jī xīn cài; 净肠菜 jìng cháng cài; 地菜 dì cài; 香荠 xiāng jì; 青明草 qīng míng cǎo
Origin: Plant
Use: alimentary
Category: Blood-stanching agents / Blood-cooling blood-stanching agents
Properties: Sweet and bland; cool; nontoxic*.
Channel entry: liver, spleen, and bladder channels.*
Indications:
- Cools the blood and stanches bleeding: Any bleeding from blood heat, including vomiting of blood (blood ejection), bloody stool, flooding and spotting, profuse menstruation.
- Clears the liver and brightens the eyes:
painful red swollen red eyes ;eye screens . - Clear heat and disinhibits urine: Damp-heat dysentery; water swelling; strangury.
Dosage & Method:
Oral: 15-30g of the dried product or 60–120g of the fresh product, decocted or made into pills and powders. Topical: Apply the juice.
Quality:
Dry plants with greenish stems and without extraneous weeds are the best.
Product Area:
Grows wild in most parts and is cultivated mainly in Jiāngsū, ānhuī, and the area surrounding Shànghǎi.