HomeTraditional Chinese Medicine HerbsManchurian Wildginger Herb

Manchurian Wildginger Herb

Latin Pharmaceutical Name

Asari Radix et Rhizoma

Chinese Name

细辛

Category

Roots and rhizomes

Manchurian Wildginger HerbMore Info

Production Regions

Primarily produced in northeastern China and Jiangsu, Hubei.

Macroscopic Features

Asarum heterotropoides : Often bundled in groups of 10 or more, often rolled into a cluster. Rhizome grows horizontally, irregular cylindrical, with short branches, 1~10cm long, 0.2~0.4cm diameter; externally grayish-brown, rough, with ring-like nodes, internode is 0.9~0.3cm long, apex of branch has bow-like stem scars. Root is thin and long, densely grows on nodes, 10~20cm long, 1mm diameter, externally grayish-yellow, smooth or with longitudinal wrinkles, brittle texture and easily broken, yellowish-white fractured surface, 1~3 leaves grow out from the base, with long stem, surface is smooth, often broken, heart-shape to kidney-shape after being flattened, 4~10cm long entire leaves, apex is shortly pointed or blunt, base is heart-shape, externally pale green. Some has flower and fruit, flower is often wrinkled, bell-like, dark purple, perianth lobe rolls over and entirely adheres to perianth tube. Fruit is semi-spherical. Acrid aromatic odor, acrid, spicy taste and numbing to the tongue. Asarum sieboldii Miq.: similar to Asarum heterotropoides , rhizome is 5~20cm long, 0.1~0.2cm diameter, internode is 0.2~1cm long. 1~2 leaves grow out from the base, leaf is relatively thin, heart-shaped, apex is gradually pointed. Flattened perianth lobe. Fruit is sub-spherical. Relatively weak odor and taste. Asarum sieboldii Miq.var. seoulense Nakai.: rhizome is 1~10cm long, 0.1~0.5cm diameter, internode is 0.1~1cm long, same odor and taste as Asarum heterotropoides .

Quality Requirements

Superior medicinal material has grayish-yellow root, green leaf, dry, acrid and spicy taste and numbing tongue.

Properties

Acrid, warm

Functions

Resolvers exterior, disperses cold, dispels wind, stops pain, warms lung, transforms fluids, frees nose. Apply to exterior disease induced by pathogenic wind-cold, headache, toothache, wind-damp impediment, dyspnea with cough due to phlegm and retained fluids, nasal obstruction, rhinorrhea with turbid discharge, mouth sore.

Origin

The dried root and rhizome of Asarum heterotropoide s Fr. Schmidt var. mandshuricum (Maxim.) Kitag., Asarum sieboldii Miq., Asarum sieboldii Miq.var. seoulense Nakai.(Aristolochiaceae)

Manchurian Wildginger HerbHerbs in the formula

Pubescent Angelica and Mistletoe Decoction

Action：Dispels wind-dampness, relieves pain, boosts the liver and kidney, supplements qi and blood.

Indication：This formula is indicated for long-term bi syndrome associated with deficiency of the liver and kidney and insufficiency of qi and blood. The symptoms include pain and flaccidity of the waist and knees, disorder of flexion and extension of the joints, numbness, fear of cold with a preference for warmth, palpitations, and shortness of breath. The tongue is pale with a white coating and the pulse is thready and weak.

View Details Dampclearing formulas

Chinese Angelica Frigid Extremities Decoction

Action：Warms the channels to expel cold, nourishes the blood and unblocks the channels.

Indication：Counterflow cold of the limbs due to blood deficiency is characterized by counterflow cold of hands and feet, pain in the waist, thighs, lower legs, feet, shoulders, and back, no thirst, a pale tongue body with a white coating, and a deep, thin pulse or thin, impalpable pulse.

View Details Warming interior formulas

Ephedra, Aconite and Asarum Decoction

Action：Assists yang to release the exterior.

Indication：1. This formula is indicated for patterns of yang-deficiency with externally contracted wind-cold. Signs and symptoms include fever, severe aversion to cold that does not improve even with thick layer of clothes and a quilt, lassitude, lethargy, and a deep and tiny pulse.

View Details Exterior-releasing formulas

Mume Pill

Action：Calms roundworms and relieves pain.

Indication：Wu Mei Wan is used for syncope due to roundworms. The symptoms include paroxysmal pain of the abdomen and stomach cavity, vexatious vomiting, vomiting after eating, vomiting roundworms, cold limbs, and chronic diarrhea or dysentery.

View Details Vermifuge formulas

Poria, Licorice Root, Schisandra, Dried Ginger, and Asarum Decoction

Action：Warms the lung and dissolves rheum.

Indication：Ling Gan Wu Wei Jiang Xin Tang is indicated for coughing caused by a pattern of cold fluid-retention marked by coughing with a large amount of thin white sputum, a preference to spit out saliva, drooling, and a stuffy chest. The tongue coating is white and glossy and the pulse is wiry and slippery.

View Details Phlegm-expelling formulas

Tea-Mix and Chuanxiong Powder

Action：Scatters wind and relieves pain.

Indication：Chuan Xiong Cha Tiao San is indicated for headaches caused by externally-contracted wind. The symptoms are headache in any part of the head, dizzy vision, and nasal congestion possibly accompanied by aversion to wind and fever. The tongue coating is thin and white, and the pulse is floating.

View Details Wind-calming formulas

Minor Green Dragon Decoction

Action：Releases the exterior, dissipates cold, warms the lung and dissolves rheum (fluid retention).

Indication：This formula is indicated for the pattern of exterior cold with interior fluid retention. The symptoms are aversion to cold, fever, absence of sweating, labored breathing, cough, copious clear and thin phlegm, stuffiness in chest, dry retching, difficulty in lying back in the supine position, general body aches, edema of the face and extremities. The tongue coating is white and glossy, and the pulse is superficial.

View Details Exterior-releasing formulas

Rhubarb and Aconite Decoction

Action：Warms the interior, dissipates cold, promotes defecation, and relieves pain.

Indication：This formula is designed for an excess pattern of cold stagnation in the interior. The symptoms are abdominal pain, constipation, rib-side pain, fever, reversal cold of the hands and feet, a white and greasy tongue coating, and a wiry, tight pulse.

View Details Purgative 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

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