Medicinals
kuǎn dōng huā / 款冬花 / 款冬花 / coltsfoot;
Latin pharmacognostic name: Farfarae Flos
Alternate English names: coltsfoot [flower]; farfara flower
Alternate Chinese names: 款冬 kuǎn dōng
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal
Category: Phlegm-transforming cough-relieving panting-calming agents / Cough-relieving panting-calming agents
Properties: Acrid; warm. (Some sources also list slightly bitter.)
Channel entry: lung channel.
Indications:
Moistens the lung, transforms phlegm, and relieves cough: Cough and panting.
Dosage & Method:
Oral: 5–10g in decoctions. It should be used raw for sudden cough in external contraction patterns, but the honey-processed form has a better lung-moistening action in the treatment of lung vacuity cough.
Warning:
Because it is acrid and warm, kuǎn dōng huā disperses qì and assists heat; it should be used with care when treating cough with expectoration of blood or pulmonary welling-abscesses with expectoration of pus and blood.
Product Description:
The dry flower buds form an irregular club shape, 1–2.5 cm long and 6–10 mm thick. Sometimes 2–3 efflorescence's are joined together. They are full at the tip, and taper toward the often still attached stalk. The outer layer is composed of scaly mauve or pink bracts bearing a fine white down.
Quality:
Large mauve buds without stalks are the best.
Product Area:
Gānsū, Shǎnxī (Shaanxi), Hénán.
Etymology:
The name kuǎn dōng huā 款冬花, literally ""winter's depth flower,"" is so named it is a flower (huā 花) that blooms in extreme (kuǎn 款) winter (dōng 冬).