Medicinals
bǎn lán gēn / 板蓝根 / 板藍根 / isatis root;
Latin pharmacognostic name: Isatidis Radix
Alternate English names: woad root
Alternate Chinese names: 蓝靛根 lán diàn gēn; 靛青根 diàn qīng gēn; 蓝根 lán gēn
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal
Category: Heat-clearing agents / Heat-clearing toxin-resolving agents
Properties: Bitter; cold.
Channel entry: heart, stomach channels.
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
Dosage & Method:
Oral: 10–15g in decoctions.
Warning:
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.
Product 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.