Medicinals
shēng má / 升麻 / 升麻 / cimicifuga [root];
Latin pharmacognostic name: Cimicifugae Rhizoma
Alternate English names: bugbane [root]
Alternate Chinese names: 周升麻 zhōu shēng má; 周麻 zhōu má; 鬼脸升麻 guǐ liǎn shēng má; 绿升麻 lǜ shēng má; 鸡骨升麻 jī gǔ shēng má
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal
Category: Exterior-resolving agents / Cool acrid exterior-resolving agents
Properties: Acrid, sweet; slightly cold.
Channel entry: lung, spleen, stomach, and large intestine channels.
Indications:
- Effuses the exterior and outthrusts papules: Wind-heat headache; measles failing to erupt.
- Clears heat and resolves toxin: Toothache,
mouth sores , painful swollen throat,sore s, and macular eruptions, when these are due to heat toxin. - Uplifts yáng qì: Qì vacuity fall manifesting in enduring diarrhea and prolapse of the rectum or in prolapse of the uterus; qì vacuity that prevents containment of blood, manifesting in flooding and spotting; center qì vacuity with fatigue and lack of strength.
Dosage & Method:
Oral: 3–10g in decoctions. To uplift yáng qì, it is usually used mix-fried.
Warning:
Much of what is sold on the Western market as shēng má is not the official plant listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Rather, it is a substitute that is common in the Cantonese and export markets, known in Chinese as guǎng dōng shēng má (广东升麻). It is derived from the plant Serratulae chinensis and is known as serratula or Serratulae Radix. This substitute outthrusts measles and resolves toxin, but it is otherwise not a suitable substitute for true shēng má.
Product Description:
This rhizome is roughly cylindrical, but very irregular in shape. The surface is blackish brown, sometimes with fine roots still attached. On the upper side are protuberances with scars marking the place where stems were removed. The scars often take the form of holes, which reveal the reticular structure of the inner wood. This rhizome is light and vacuous, but hard and not easily broken. The decocting pieces are oblique or transverse slices 1–3 mm thick, which show the reticular structure of the yellowish white wood very clearly.
Quality:
The best rhizomes are large, black, with stalks and hair removed, light and loose in substance, and pale on the cross section.
Product Area:
Cimicifuga dahurica: Liáoníng, Hēilóngjiāng, Héběi, and Shānxī. Cimicifuga foetida: Shǎnxī (Shaanxi), Sìchuān, Qīnghǎi, and Yúnnán. Cimicifuga heracleifolia: Liáoníng, Jílín, and Hēilóngjiāng.
Etymology:
The name shēng má 升麻, literally ""upbearing hemp,"" reflects this agent's ability to upbear yáng qì and lift evils out of the body through the exterior.