Medicinals

bái xiān pí / 白鲜皮 / 白鮮皮 / dictamnus [bark];

Latin pharmacognostic name: Dictamni Cortex

Alternate English names: Chinese dictamnus [bark]

Alternate Chinese names: 白藓皮 bái xiān pí

Origin: Plant

Use: medicinal

Category: Heat-clearing agents / Heat-clearing toxin-resolving agents

Properties: Bitter; cold.

Channel entry: spleen and stomach channels.

Indications:

Dosage & Method:

Oral: 6–10g in decoctions. Also used externally, decocted with water as a wash.

Warning:

Use with care in vacuity cold.

Product Description:

This root bark comes in quills 5–10 mm in diameter. The outer layer is peeled off, leaving a smooth, pale-yellow surface with fine longitudinal wrinkles, and scars from small branch roots. Indented white speckles may be observed on gray black cork that has not been properly stripped away. The inner surface is smooth, earth-colored, and slightly fibrous. Though hard, it snaps easily, giving off white powder and leaving a whitish-yellow fracture. The decocting pieces are transverse slices 1–2 mm thick.

Quality:

Best if large, white, curled in quill form, and free of any woody core.

Product Area:

Manchuria, Héběi, Hénán, ānhuī, Jiāngsū, and Húběi, and Korea.

Etymology:

白鲜皮 (bái xiān pí), literally ""white goat's smell bark,"" the character xiān 鲜 being taken to mean the smell of fish ( 鱼 and goats yáng 羊, rather than ""fresh.""

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