Medicinals
sū mù / 苏木 / 蘇木 / sappan [wood];
Latin pharmacognostic name: Sappan Lignum
Alternate English names: brazilwood
Alternate Chinese names: 苏仿 sū fǎng; 棕木 zōng mù; 红柴 hóng chái; 赤木 chì mù; 苏方木 sū fāng mù; 苏仿木 sū fǎng mù
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal
Category: Blood-Quickening Stasis-dispelling agents / Blood-quickening injury-healing agents
Properties: Sweet, salty, acrid; balanced. (Some sources only give acrid as the flavor.)
Channel entry: heart and liver channels.
Indications:
- Quickens the blood and treat injuries:
Injury from knocks and falls , damage to the sinews and bone fractures, painful stasis swelling. - Dispels stasis and frees menstruation: Blood stasis patterns of amenorrhea, menstrual pain, and
postpartum stasis obstruction abdominal pain . - Additional uses: In internal medicine, sū mù is sometimes used to treat pain in the heart region and abdomen by combining it with dān shēn (丹参 Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix, salvia [root];), chuān xiōng (川芎 Chuanxiong Rhizoma, chuanxiong [rhizome]), and yán hú suǒ (延胡索 Corydalis Rhizoma, corydalis [rhizome];). In external medicine, it may be used for treating toxin swelling of
sore s and welling-abscesses, for which it is combined with medicinals such as jīn yín huā (金银花 Lonicerae Flos, lonicera [flower];) and lián qiào (连翘 Forsythiae Fructus, forsythia [fruit];).
Dosage & Method:
Oral: 3–10g in decoctions. Also used topically as a powder.
Warning:
Contraindicated in pregnancy.
Product Description:
Sappan wood comes ready-cut for decoction in irregular rectangles of wood about 0.5–1 mm thick, and usually about 1 cm wide, and dark or light tan in color, some being yellowish white at the edges. The pieces break easily.
Quality:
The best quality comes from large firm branches. It is hard and bears a reddish hue.
Product Area:
India, Malaysia, and cultivated in Guǎngxī, Yúnnán, Guǎngdōng, and Táiwān.
Etymology:
The names sū mù 苏木 and sū fāng mù 苏方木 derive from the name of the original production area, the island country Su Fang. The English brazilwood reflects the use of this wood in the west to make a red dye (Portuguese brasa, live coals).