Medicinals
shān dòu gēn / 山豆根 / 山豆根 / bushy sophora [root];
Latin pharmacognostic name: Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix
Alternate English names: Tongkingese [root]; Vietnamese sophora [root]
Alternate Chinese names: 山大豆根 shān dà dòu gēn; 黄结 huáng jié; 广豆根 guǎng dòu gēn
Origin: Plant
Use: medicinal
Category: Heat-clearing agents / Heat-clearing toxin-resolving agents
Properties: Bitter; cold; toxic.
Channel entry: lung and stomach channels.
Indications:
- Clears heat and resolves toxin; disinhibits the throat; disperses swelling and relieves pain: Painful swollen throat due to heat toxin.
- Additional actions: Shān dòu gēn can be used for damp-heat jaundice, lung heat cough, and toxin swelling of welling-abscesses and
sore s. For sores, it can be applied topically.
Dosage & Method:
Oral: 3–6g in decoctions. For external use it can be decocted to make a wash or can be applied as a powder.
Warning:
Unsuitable for spleen-stomach vacuity cold with reduced eating and sloppy stool. Shān dòu gēn is toxic, and excessively high doses can cause diarrhea,
Product Description:
This root is cylindrical, 10–15 cm long and about 7 mm in diameter, and often has branch roots. It is blackish brown in color, with coarse longitudinal wrinkles and long transverse lenticels that protrude slightly. It breaks to leave a granular fracture. The decocting pieces are thin oblique slices, whose cut face is smooth and light brown with annular markings.
Quality:
Fat farinaceous roots are the best.
Product Area:
Jílín, Guǎngdōng.
Etymology:
The name shān dòu gēn 山豆根, literally ""mountain bean root,"" is so named because the plant trails like a bean plant.