Medicinals
jīn yín huā / 金银花 / 金銀花 / lonicera [flower];
Latin pharmacognostic name: Lonicerae Flos
Alternate English names: honeysuckle [flower]; Japanese honeysuckle [flower]
Alternate Chinese names: 金花 jīn huā; 金藤花 jīn téng huā; 双花 shuāng huā; 二宝花 èr bǎo huā; 二花 èr huā; 忍冬花 rěn dōng huā; 银花 yín huā
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal
Category: Heat-clearing agents / Heat-clearing toxin-resolving agents
Properties: Sweet; cold.
Channel entry: lung, stomach, and large intestine channels.
Indications:
- Clears heat and resolves toxin: Swollen welling-abscesses, clove sores, boils, and other
sore s. - Disperses wind-heat: Initial-stage warm disease.
- Checks dysentery: Heat toxin dysentery.
- Treats painful swollen throat due to wind-heat or heat toxin: For sore throat from heat toxin, combine it with heat-clearing toxin-resolving medicinals such as shè gān (射干 Belamcandae Rhizoma, belamcanda [root];) and mǎ bó (马勃 Lasiosphaera seu Calvatia , puffball). For sore throat due to wind-heat, combine it with wind-heat-coursing medicinals such as bò hé (薄荷 Menthae Herba, mint) and niú bàng zǐ (牛蒡子 Arctii Fructus, arctium [seed];).
Dosage & Method:
Oral: 10–30g in decoctions.
Warning:
Use with care when treating patients suffering from spleen-stomach vacuity cold or qì vacuity sores with clear pus.
Product Description:
The dried flower buds are clavate, slightly contorted, 2–3 cm long and 2–3 mm thick. Their exterior surface is yellow or light brown and is covered with short soft hairs and glandular hairs. At the base is a small, thin, green calyx. The bud cuts open to reveal five stamens and one pistil.
Quality:
Large unopened yellowish-white buds are the best.
Product Area:
Most places, with production highest in Shāndōng, and the best quality produced in Hénán.
Etymology:
The name jīn yín huā 金银花, literally ""gold and silver flowers,"" so called because the plant has both yellow and white flowers.