Wiseman’s Chinese Medical Database

shā shēn / 沙参 / 沙參 / adenophora/glehnia [root]

Latin pharmacognostic name: Adenophorae seu Glehniae Radix

Alternate English names:

Alternate Chinese names:

Origin: Plant

Use: medicinal

Category: Supplementing agents / Yīn-supplementing agents

Properties: Sweet; slightly cold. Běi shā shēn is also slightly bitter.

Channel entry: lung and stomach channels.

Indications:

• Nourishes yīn, clears the lung, and transforms phlegm: Lung yīn vacuity with dry cough and scant phlegm or sticky phlegm that is difficult to expectorate.
• Boosts the stomach and engenders liquid: Insufficiency of qì and liquid following febrile disease or spleen-stomach vacuity.

Dosage & Method:

Oral: 10–15g in decoctions.

Warning:

Shā shēn clashes with lí lú (Veratri Nigri Radix et Rhizoma). However, at the time when the theory of clashing relationships arose, only nán shā shēn was in prominent use.

Notes:

沙参 includes two forms: 北沙参 and 南沙参. Prior to the Míng Dynasty, shā shēn denoted what is today called nán shā shēn. Not until the late Míng Dynasty did records of běi shā shēn appear and the consequent need for name distinctions arise. Both nourish yīn and clear heat, as well as boosting the stomach and engendering liquid, but běi shā shēn has a greater yīn-nourishing lung-moistening action and is used for lung and stomach yīn vacuity with heat signs.

Product Description:

The root of Adenophora ssp: is spindle-shaped or cylindrical, tapering, 5–25 cm long, and rarely branched. At the top is a 0.5–10 cm long rhizome that is 1–2 cm in diameter. Roots with the skin left on are pale brown in color, and bear transverse creases, especially numerous toward the top. Those without skin are yellowish white in color. This root is light and spongy in texture and snaps easily. The decocting pieces are slices 4 mm thick. The root of Glehnia is cylindrical, tapering at both ends, 15–30 cm long 3–8 cm thick, rarely with branches. The exterior surface is pale yellow with longitudinal creases, and remains of darker skin. This root is hard in substance and snaps easily. The decocting pieces are short sections or transverse slices.

Quality:

Adenophora: Large fat roots without skin and with yellowish-white coloring are best. Glehnia: Best are long slender solid roots that do not have large heads, have an even white coloring, have had the skin removed, and have a smooth exterior surface.

Product Area:

Adenophora: ānhuī, Jiāngsū. Glehnia: Shāndōng, Héběi.

Etymology:

The name 沙参 literally means ""sand root,"" apparently so called because the root is the color of sand and its action is similar to that of ginseng and other agents whose names contain the character 参, such as xuān shēn 玄参.

See also:

běi shā shēn (北沙参 Glehniae Radix, glehnia [root]); nán shā shēn (南沙参 Adenophorae Radix, adenophora [root])