Medicinals
bái zhú / 白朮 / 白朮 / white atractylodes [root];
Latin pharmacognostic name: Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma
Alternate English names: large-headed atractylodes [root]
Alternate Chinese names:
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal
Category: Supplementing agents / Qì-supplementing agents
Properties: Bitter, sweet; warm.
Channel entry: spleen and stomach channels.
Indications:
- Supplements qì and fortifies the spleen: Spleen-stomach qì vacuity patterns.
- Dries dampness and disinhibits water: Water swelling; phlegm-rheum.
- Checks sweating: Insecurity of the fleshy exterior with profuse sweating due to spleen vacuity.
- Quiets the fetus: Stirring fetus due to spleen vacuity.
Dosage & Method:
Oral: Decoct (4.5–9g), prepare as a paste, or use in pills or powders.
Warning:
Bái zhú is inappropriate in patterns of yīn vacuity with dryness and thirst and in patterns of qì stagnation with oppression and distension.
Product Description:
This rhizome has the remains of one or two stalks at the top and has knobby protuberances toward the lower extremity. The surface is a grayish or yellowish brown. It is 4–8 cm long and 2–5 cm thick. It is hard and breaks with difficulty. On the fracture the skin is granular in texture, while the wood is fibrous, hollow in places, and whitish in color. It is cut into oblique or longitudinal slices 2–4 mm thick. These are used crude or stir-fried to a golden brown. Also available commercially are slices stir-fried in earth, which have a homogeneous rusty brown coloration.
Quality:
Large dry rhizomes with fine light brown skin and white interiors are the best. They should break cleanly, unimpeded by any stringy fibers.
Product Area:
ānhuī, Zhèjiāng.
Etymology:
The name bái zhú 白朮 is composed of bái 白, white, and zhú 朮, which in itself denotes this plant. The alternate name shān jì 山蓟, literally ""mountain thistle,"" is attributed to the similarity of this plant to a thistle.