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Alternate English names: woad root

Alternate Chinese names: 蓝靛根 lán diàn gēn; 靛青根 diàn qīng gēn; 蓝根 lán gēn

Kingdom: Plant

Origin in PRC Pharmacopoeia: Isatis indigotica Fort. (PRC Pharmacopoeia)

Origin in unofficial sources: Isatis indigotica Fort.*; Isatis tinctoria L.; Baphicacanthus cusia (Nees) Brem.

Use: Medicinal

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

Properties: Bitter; cold.

Channel entry: Heart, stomach channels.

Actions and indications: Clears heat, resolves toxin, and cools the blood; disinhibits the throat and disperses swelling: Warm heat disease with heat effusion, headache, and painful swollen throat; warm toxin with macular eruption; mumps and massive head scourge; toxin swelling of welling-abscesses and sores; cinnabar toxin (erysipelas).

Dosage and method: Oral: 10–15g in decoctions.

Warnings: Contraindicated in spleen-stomach vacuity cold.

Quality: Dry long fat roots that are whitish in color, farinaceous in texture, and free of foreign matter are best.

Production area: Isatis tinctoria:Inner Mongolia, Shǎnxī (Shaanxi), Gānsū, Héběi, Shāndōng, Jiāngsū, Zhèjiāng, ānhuī, and Guìzhōu. Isatis indigotica: Cultivated in along the Yangtze and in Gānsū. Baphicacanthus cusia: Jiāngsū, Zhèjiāng, Fújiàn, Táiwān, Guǎngdōng, Guǎngxī, Guìzhōu, Yúnnán, Sìchuān, Húnán, and Húběi.

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