HomeTraditional Chinese Medicine HerbsBaikal Skullcap Root

Baikal Skullcap Root

Latin Pharmaceutical Name

Scutellariae Radix

Chinese Name

黄芩

Category

Roots and rhizomes

Baikal Skullcap RootMore Info

Production Regions

Primarily produced in the Chinese provinces of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Hebei, Liaoning.

Macroscopic Features

Conical, twisted, 8~25cm long, 1~3cm diameter. Externally brownish-yellow or dark yellow, with loose verrucous thin root scars; upper portion is relatively rough, with twisted longitudinal wrinkles or irregular reticular pattern, lower portion has smooth lines and thin wrinkles. Young roots are hard and brittle, easily broken, fractured surface is yellow, middle is reddish-brown; also called zi qin, this form primarily clears fire. The center of old roots is dark brown or brownish-black, rotten or hollow, also called ku qin, clears fire and resolves toxin. faint odor, bitter taste.

Quality Requirements

Superior medicinal material has long root, firm texture, yellow color.

Properties

Bitter; cold.

Functions

Clears heat, dries dampness, drains fire, resolves toxin, stops bleeding, calms fetus, reduces blood pressure. Apply to damp-warm diseases, chest retention and vomiting due to summer-warm, retention and fullness due to damp and heat, diarrhea, jaundice, cough with lung heat, polydipsia with high fever, hematemesis and non-traumatic hemorrhage due to blood heat, abscess and sore toxin, fetal movement.

Processed Form

Wine huang qin: Processed the huang qin slices following the way of wine-process. Sun-spherical or irregular thin slices, externally brown, cut surface is yellowish-brown, radial pattern, slightly with burnt spots, some have brown center.

Origin

The dried root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi.(Fabaceae).

Baikal Skullcap RootHerbs in the formula

Immature Bitter Orange Stagnation-Moving Pill

Action：Promotes digestion, removes stagnation, clears heat, and removes dampness.

Indication：Food accumulation with damp-heat, marked by distending pain of the abdomen and stomach cavity, diarrhea, constipation, dark, scanty urine, a greasy yellow tongue coating, and a deep, forceful pulse.

View Details Digestive formulas

Turtle Shell Decocted Pill

Action：Moves qi, invigorates blood, dispels dampness, dissolves phlegm, softens hardness, and disperses concretions.

Indication：Bie Jia Jian Wan is indicated for chronic malaria with masses below the costal region and abdominal masses. Long-lasting malaria causes masses to gather underneath the costal region. It is called chronic malaria with masses. Symptoms include: Masses underneath the costal region that stay firm when pushed, abdominal pain, weak muscles, decreased appetite, occasional cold or fever, and inhibited menses.

View Details Blood-regulating formulas

Gentian Liver-Draining Decoction

Action：Clears and drains excessive fire of the liver and gallbladder, and clears damp-heat in the liver channel.

Indication：1. Flaming up of excessive fire of the liver and gallbladder, which manifests as headache and red eyes, pain in the rib-side, bitter taste in the mouth, deafness, swelling of the ears, a red tongue with a yellow coating, and a forceful wiry, rapid pulse.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

Sweet Wormwood and Scutellaria Gallbladder-Clearing Decoction

Action：Clears gallbladder, drains dampness, harmonizes the stomach, and dissolves phlegm.

Indication：Pattern of shaoyang damp-heat marked by alternating chills and fever similar to malaria, more fever than chills, a bitter taste in the mouth, diaphragm oppression, sour and bitter regurgitation, spitting yellow sticky drool, belching, hiccups, distending pain in the chest and rib-side, yellow scanty urine, a red tongue body, a white greasy or white yellow tongue coating, and a rapid, slippery right pulse and a rapid, wiry pulse.

View Details Harmonizing formulas

Phlegm-Removing Pill

Action：Drains heat and expels phlegm.

Indication：Gun Tan Wan is used to treat patterns of excess heat and obstinate phlegm. Such patterns manifest many symptoms including mania and palpitations due to fright, severe palpitations and fainting, coughing and panting while expectorating thick phlegm, vertigo and tinnitus, nodules around the neck, wriggling of the mouth and eyes, insomnia or strange dreams, sudden pain of the joints, vexation and stuffiness due to sighing and choking, and constipation. The tongue coating is yellow and thick and the pulse is slippery, rapid and powerful.

View Details Phlegm-expelling formulas

Membrane-Source-Opening Beverage

Action：Opens and vents the membrane-source, dispels filth and removes turbidity.

Indication：Latent pathogen of pestilence or malaria in the pleurodiaphragmatic interspace (membrane-source). Symptoms are aversion to cold with high fever marked by irregular onset such as one or three times per day, chest oppression, headache, vexation and agitation, wiry and rapid pulse, deep red tongue-edge, putrid and greasy tongue coating, or white, thick tongue coating like accumulated powder.

View Details Harmonizing formulas

Pueraria, Scutellaria, and Coptis Decoction

Action：Releases the exterior and clears the interior.

Indication：This formula is indicated for diarrhea with fever. The symptoms are diarrhea, fever, smelly, foul, thick, and sticky stool, burning sensation in the anus, panting with sweating, vexing heat in the chest and stomach cavities, thirst, dark urine, a red tongue body with a yellow coating, and a rapid pulse.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

Chinese Angelica Pain-Alleviating Decoction

Action：Drains dampness and clears heat, scatters wind and relieves pain.

Indication：Dang Gui Nian Tong Tang is indicated for patterns that arise due to a conflict between dampness and heat with concurrent external wind contraction. The symptoms are aching pain of limbs and joints, heavy sensation of the shoulder and back, swelling and pain of the feet, sores on the feet and knees. The tongue coating is white and greasy mixed with yellow and the pulse is wiry and rapid.

View Details Dampclearing formulas

Chinese Angelica Six Yellow Decoction

Action：Nourishes yin, drains fire, consolidates the exterior, and arrests sweating.

Indication：This formula is indicated for night sweating caused by yin deficiency and intense fire. The symptoms are night sweating with fever, red complexion, vexation, thirst and dry lips, dry stool, dark urine, a red tongue body with a yellow coating, and a rapid pulse.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

Coptis Toxin-Resolving Decoction

Action：Drains fire and resolves toxins.

Indication：This formula is indicated for fire toxins in the sanjiao. The symptoms are fever, vexation, delirious speech, sleeplessness, dry mouth and throat, dark urine, spitting of blood, nosebleed, rashes, fever with dysentery, jaundice caused by epidemic toxins, rashes, abscesses, ulcers, boils, a red tongue with yellow coating, and a forceful rapid pulse.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

Yellow Earth Decoction

Action：Warms yang and fortifies the spleen, nourishes blood and stanches bleeding.

Indication：Huang Tu Tang is indicated for pattern of spleen yang insufficiency, and spleen failing to control the blood. The symptoms are bloody stool, in which the stool comes out first, spitting of blood, nosebleed, flooding and spotting (beng lou) of dark colored menstrual blood, cold four limbs, sallow complexion, a pale tongue with a white coating, and a deep, thin and weak pulse.

View Details Blood-regulating formulas

Universal Relief Toxin-Removing Beverage

Action：Clears heat, resolves toxins, scatters wind, and disperses swelling.

Indication：This formula is indicated for swollen-head infection (also referred to as massive head scourge). The symptoms are redness, swelling, and pain in the head and face, failure to open the eyes, red, swollen, and sore throat, aversion to cold with fever, thirst, a red tongue with a yellow coating, and a forceful rapid pulse.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

Qi-Clearing and Phlegm-Transforming Pill

Action：Clears heat and dissolves phlegm, regulates qi, and relieves cough.

Indication：Qing Qi Hua Tan Wan is indicated for patients with cough caused by phlegm-heat. The symptoms include coughing and panting, expectoration of sticky, yellow sputum, obstruction of the chest and diaphragm, dyspnea, nausea and vomiting, and restlessness and agitation in severe cases. The tongue is red with a greasy and yellow coating and the pulse is slippery and rapid.

View Details Phlegm-expelling formulas

Diaphragm-Cooling Powder

Action：Drains fire, promotes defecation, clears heat from the upper, and discharges heat through the purgative method.

Indication：This formula is indicated for the heat that has been generated from the constraint of pathogens in the upper jiao and middle jiao. The symptoms are vexing heat in the chest and diaphragm, red complexion, parched lips, vexation and agitation, thirst, mouth and tongue sores, restless sleep, delirium, pharyngeal pain, spitting of blood, nosebleed, constipation, dark urine, and incomplete defecation. The tongue is red with a yellow coating, and the pulse is slippery and rapid.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

Bupleurum and Pueraria Muscle-Resolving Decoction

Action：Releases the flesh and clears heat.

Indication：Chai Ge Jie Ji Tang is indicated for externally contracted wind-cold that has become constrained and transforms into a heat pattern. The signs and symptoms include gradually reducing aversion to cold and increasing body heat, absence of sweat, headache, eye pain, dryness of the nose, vexation, insomnia, dry throat, impaired hearing, orbit pain, a thin yellow tongue coating, and a superficial, slightly surging pulse.

View Details Exterior-releasing formulas

Arrest Wheezing Decoction

Action：Diffuses the lung and directs qi downward, clears heat, and dissolves phlegm.

Indication：Ding Chuan Tang is indicated for wheezing and panting due to phlegm-heat accumulation in the lung. The symptoms are wheezing and panting, cough, phlegm with heavy breathing, thick yellow phlegm, and slight aversion to wind. The tongue coating is yellow and greasy, and the pulse is slippery and rapid.

View Details Qi-regulating formulas

Menses-Securing Pill

Action：Enriches yin and clears heat, consolidates the channels and stanches bleeding.

Indication：Gu Jing Wan is designed for flooding and spotting due to yin deficiency and blood heat. The symptoms include flooding and spotting or profuse menstruation that is dark or purple, feverish sensation in the palms and soles, weakness and soreness in the loins and knees, a red tongue body, and a rapid pulse.

View Details Astringent formulas

Peony Decoction

Action：Clears heat in the large intestine, dries dampness, invigorates the blood, and moves qi.

Indication：This formula is indicated for damp-heat dysentery. The symptoms are dysentery with stool containing pus and blood, abdominal pain, abdominal urgency with rectal heaviness, burning sensation in the anus, scant dark urine, a greasy yellow tongue coating, and a wiry rapid pulse.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

Peaceful Palace Bovine Bezoar Pill

Action：Clears heat and resolves toxins, opens the orifices and induces resuscitation.

Indication：An Gong Niu Huang Wan is indicated for a pattern of pathogenic heat invading the pericardium. The symptoms are high fever, vexation, unconsciousness, delirium, stiffness of the tongue and cold limbs. The tongue is red or crimson, and the pulse is rapid and forceful. It is also indicated for pathogenic heat causing internal block, wind strike, unconsciousness, and infantile convulsion.

View Details Resuscitative formulas

Sweet Dew Toxin-Removing Elixir

Action：Drains dampness and removes turbidity, clears heat and resolves toxins.

Indication：Gan Lu Xiao Du Dan is indicated for damp-warmth and seasonal epidemic. It is a pattern with equal dampness and heat pathogens in the qi level. The symptoms are fever and fatigue, chest distress and abdominal distension, aching pain of limbs, throat pain, yellow skin and eyes, maxillofacial swelling, thirst, scanty and dark urine, diarrhea, and turbid strangury. The tongue coating may be either white, thick and greasy or yellow and dry. The pulse is either soggy and rapid or slippery and rapid.

View Details Dampclearing formulas

Pinellia Heart-Draining Decoction

Action：Disperses pi and dissipates masses through the combination of cold and warm medicinals.

Indication：Pi is caused by the binding of cold and heat, marked by stuffiness below the heart, fullness without pain, vomiting, borborygmus, diarrhea, and a slightly yellow, greasy coating.

View Details Harmonizing formulas

Gastrodia and Uncaria Decoction

Action：Calms the liver and extinguishes wind, clears heat and invigorates blood, supplements and boosts the liver and kidney.

Indication：Tian Ma Gou Teng Yin is indicated for patterns of hyperactive liver yang and ascending liver wind. The symptoms are headache, dizziness and vertigo, insomnia with profuse dreaming; or a bitter taste in the mouth, flushed face, a red tongue with a yellow tongue coating, and a wiry or rapid pulse.

View Details Wind-calming formulas

Minor Bupleurum Decoction

Action：Harmonizes the shaoyang.

Indication：1. Cold damage entering the shaoyang. The symptoms are alternating chills and fever, fullness and discomfort in the chest and rib-side, no desire to eat or drink, vexation and frequent vomiting, bitter taste in the mouth, dry throat, dizzy vision, a thin white tongue coating, and a wiry pulse.

View Details Harmonizing formulas

Large Gentian Decoction

Action：Scatters wind and clears heat, nourishes and invigorates blood.

Indication：Da Qin Jiao Tang is indicated for an early stage of a wind attacking the channels and collaterals pattern. The symptoms are deviation of the eyes and mouth, difficulty in speaking due to stiff tongue, an inability to move the extremities, often accompanied by aversion to cold with fever, spasms and tension of the extremities, a white or yellow tongue coating, and a superficial, rapid pulse or wiry, thin pulse.

View Details Wind-calming formulas

Major Bupleurum Decoction

Action：Harmonizes shaoyang and drains interior heat bind.

Indication：This formula treats a combined shaoyang-yangming pattern characterized by alternating chills and fever, fullness and discomfort in the chest and rib-side, frequent vomiting, constant vexation, epigastric pi and hardness or epigastric fullness and pain, constipation or diarrhea with fever, a yellow tongue coating, and a powerful wiry, rapid pulse.

View Details Harmonizing formulas

Nine Ingredients Notopterygium Decoction

Action：Induces sweating, expels dampness, and clears internal heat.

Indication：Jiu Wei Qiang Huo Tang is indicated for an exterior pattern with externally contracted wind-cold-dampness complicated by interior heat. The symptoms are aversion to cold, fever, absence of sweating, headache, painful stiff nape, pain and soreness of the limbs and body, bitter taste, and thirst. The tongue coating is white or light yellow, and the pulse is superficial or superficial and tight.

View Details Exterior-releasing formulas