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Prunellae Spica
Prunella [spike]
夏枯草 〔夏枯草〕 xià kū cǎo
Alternate English names: self-heal [spike] heal-all [spike]
Alternate Chinese names: 麦穗夏枯草 mài suì xià kū cǎo; 麦夏枯 mài xià kū; 铁线夏枯 tiě xiàn xià kū; 枯草穗 kū cǎo suì
Kingdom: Plant
Origin in PRC Pharmacopoeia: Prunella vulgaris L. (PRC Pharmacopoeia)
Origin in unofficial sources: Prunella vulgaris L.* [= P. vulgaris L. var. lilachina Nakai; P. vulgaris L. subsp. asiatica Hara]; Prunella hispida Benth.
Use: Medicinal
Category: Heat-clearing agents / Heat-clearing fire-draining agents
Properties: Bitter, acrid; cold.
Channel entry: Liver and gallbladder channels.
Actions and indications:
- Clears liver fire: Liver fire patterns of
painful red swollen eyes , headache, and dizziness. - Disperses binds and resolves toxin: Scrofula; goiter; mammary welling-abscess, and heat toxin sores.
- Modern applications: Xià kū cǎo has recently been used to treat hypertension ascribed to liver fire flaming upward or ascendant hyperactivity of liver yáng.
Dosage and method: Oral: 10–15g; either taken in decoctions or boiled down to make a paste.
Warnings: Use with care in spleen-stomach vacuity.
Product description: This spike is cylindrical or pagoda-shaped, 2.5–6.5 cm long, and 1–1.5 cm in diameter. It is maroon-brown in color and is attached to a stalk. It comprises up to or over ten whorls of persistent calyces 5–7 mm apart. Each whorl comprises 5–6 persistent calyces and has below it two brown opposite-growing, kidney-shaped bracts with a pronounced midrib, sharply pointed tip, and rough hair on the outer surface. The calyces are ligulate, the upper lip being broad with three lobes, and the lower lip having only two lobes. The lobes are triangular with hair on the outside. The corollas and stamens have usually all fallen off. Within each calyx are four shiny brown seeds. This spike is light in weight and has a faint odor.
Quality: Large purplish spikes are the best.
Production area: Jiāngsū, ānhuī, Zhèjiāng, Húnán, and Japan.
Etymology: The name xià kū cǎo 夏枯草, literally summer withering herb,
derives from the fact that it withers after the summer season.