Medicinals
shān zhū yú / 山茱萸 / 山茱萸 / cornus [fruit];
Latin pharmacognostic name: Corni Fructus
Alternate English names: Asiatic cornelian cherry [fruit]; Japanese dogwood fruit
Alternate Chinese names: 蜀枣 shǔ zǎo; 鼠矢 shǔ shǐ; 鸡足 jī zú; 实枣儿 shí zǎo ér; 药枣 yào zǎo; 山萸肉 shān yú ròu; 肉枣 ròu zǎo; 萸肉 yú ròu; 枣皮 zǎo pí
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal
Category: Astringent agents / Intestine-astringing diarrhea-checking agents
Properties: Sour, astringent; slightly warm.
Channel entry: liver and kidney channels.
Indications:
- Supplements the liver and kidney: Impotence, dizziness, and limp aching lumbus and knees, due to liver and kidney depletion.
- Secures essence and reduces urination: Seminal emission; enuresis.
- Constrains sweating and stems desertion: Incessant great sweating; vacuity verging on desertion.
- Additional uses: Shān zhū yú is used to treat patterns of dispersion-thirst. For this purpose, combine it with shēng dì huáng (生地黄 Rehmanniae Radix Exsiccata seu Recens, dried/fresh rehmannia [root];) and tiān huā fěn (天花粉 Trichosanthis Radix, trichosanthes root).
Dosage & Method:
Oral: 5–10g in decoctions. To stem desertion, it may be used in doses of 20–30g.
Warning:
Unsuitable for use in the presence of damp-heat with rough dribbling urination.
Product Description:
The dried fruit is 1–1.6 cm long and has shrunken flesh and wrinkled glossy blackish or purplish red translucent skin through which the light-colored seed can be seen. At one end there is a small umbilicus. The flesh is soft and sticky.
Quality:
Fat shiny red fruits with a strong sour taste and no bloom are the best.
Product Area:
Zhèjiāng, Hénán.
Etymology:
The name shān zhū yú 山茱萸 literally means ""mountain zhū yú."" Compare wú zhū yú 吴茱萸. The commonly alternate names ròu zǎo 肉枣 , ""fleshy jujube,"" and zǎo pí 枣皮, ""jujube skin,"" derive from a vague likeness to the jujube.