Medicinals
zhī mǔ / 知母 / 知母 / anemarrhena [root]
Latin pharmacognostic name: Anemarrhenae Rhizoma
Alternate English names:
Alternate Chinese names: 蚳母 chí mǔ; 母 qí mǔ; 提母 tí mǔ; 连母 lián mǔ; 知母肉 zhī mǔ ròu; 砥母 tǐ mǔ
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal
Category: Heat-clearing agents / Heat-clearing fire-draining agents
Properties: Bitter, sweet; cold.
Channel entry: lung, stomach, and kidney channels.
Indications:
- Clears heat and drains fire: Febrile disease with
vigorous heat effusion , heart vexation, and thirst; lung heat cough. - Enriches yīn and moistens dryness: Yīn vacuity dry cough;
steaming bone tidal heat effusion ; yīn vacuity dispersion-thirst;intestinal dryness with constipation.
Dosage & Method:
Oral: 6–12g in decoction. Use raw to clear heat and drain fire; use processed with brine to enrich yīn and downbear fire.
Warning:
Being a cold and moistening substance that lubicrates the intestines, it is unsuitable for spleen vacuity with sloppy stool.
Product Description:
This is a flat contorted ribbon-like rhizome 0.8–1.5 cm in diameter, with roots branching from it.
Quality:
Smooth large fat rhizomes that are pale yellow on the inside and that have little hair are the best.
Product Area:
Héběi, Shānxī, Inner Mongolia, Gānsū, Shǎnxī (Shaanxi), and Manchuria.
Etymology:
The name zhī mǔ 知母, literally ""knowledge mother,"" is allegedly a corruption of chí mǔ 蚳母, literally ""scorpion mother,"" so named by analogy of form.