HomeTraditional Chinese Medicine HerbsCommon Anemarrhena

Common Anemarrhena

Name

Common Anemarrhena

Latin Pharmaceutical Name

Anemarrhenae Rhizoma

Chinese Name

知母

Category

Roots and rhizomes

Common AnemarrhenaMore Info

Production Regions

Primarily produced in the Chinese provinces of Shanxi, Henan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia.

Macroscopic Features

Long strip-like, slightly curved, slightly flat, occasionally has branches, 3~15cm long, 0.8~1.5cm diameter, one end has pale yellow remnants of stem and leaf. Externally yellowish-brown to brown, upper side has one indented groove, densely arranged ring nodes, with dense remnants of yellowish-brown remnants of leaf base on nodes, growing upward from two sides of rhizome; lower side is bulging and slightly wrinkled, with indented or raised spotted root scars. Hard texture, easily broken, yellowish-white fractured surface. faint odor, slightly sweet, slightly bitter taste, sticky when chewed.

Quality Requirements

Superior medicinal material has hard texture, fat and large strip, yellowish-white fractured surface.

Properties

Bitter, sweet, cold.

Functions

Clears heat, drains fire, engenders fluid, moistens dryness. Apply to exterior heat diseases, high fever and polydipsia, lung heat with cough, stomach heat and diabetes, dryness of lung and cough, constipation due to dry intestines, bone steaming and hot flashes.

Technical Terms

'Gold-wrapped head’: This refers to mao zhi mu with the outer skin intact, which has remnants of light yellow leaf scars and stem scars at the apex.

Origin

The dried rhizome of Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bge.(Liliaceae)

Common AnemarrhenaHerbs in the formula

Sour Jujube Decoction

Action：Nourishes blood and calms the mind, clears heat and relieves vexation.

Indication：Suan Zao Ren Tang is indicated for deficiency of liver-blood with internal deficiency heat. The symptoms are vexation, insomnia, palpitations, restlessness, dizziness, dry throat, dry mouth, a red tongue, and a wiry, thin pulse.

View Details Sedative and tranquilizing 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

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

Summerheat-Clearing Qi-Boosting Decoction

Action：Clears summerheat, boosts qi, nourishes yin, and generates fluids.

Indication：This formula is indicated for patterns of summerheat with damage to both qi and fluids. The symptoms are fever with profuse sweating, thirst and vexation, scanty dark urine, fatigue and weak breathing, listlessness, and a deficient, rapid pulse.

View Details Summer-heat clearing formulas

Bone-Clearing Powder

Action：Clears deficiency-heat and relieves steaming bone fever.

Indication：This formula is indicated for deficiency of the liver and kidney yin, and deficiency-heat harassing the interior. The symptoms are steaming bone fever, prolonged low-grade fever, emaciation, red lips and cheeks, fatigue and night sweat, thirst and vexation, a red tongue with a scanty coating, and a thready, rapid pulse.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

Wind-Dispersing Powder

Action：Scatters wind and eliminates dampness, clears heat and nourishes the blood.

Indication：Xiao Feng San is indicated for rubella and eczema. The symptoms are itching skin, red rashes that affect a large part of the body, fluids that leak upon scratching, a white or yellow tongue coating, and a superficial, rapid pulse.

View Details Wind-calming formulas

Sweet Wormwood and Turtle Shell Decoction

Action：Nourishes yin and vents heat.

Indication：This formula is indicated for patterns where yin has been damaged along with latent pathogens. The symptoms are night fever that abates at dawn, fever that abates without sweating, a red tongue body with a scanty coating, and a thready, rapid pulse.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

White Tiger Decoction

Action：Clears heat and generates fluids.

Indication：The formula is indicated for intense heat in the qi level with high fever, red facial complexion, restlessness and thirst, polydipsia, sweating, aversion to heat, and a surging, big, and forceful pulse.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

Jade Lady Decoction

Action：Clears stomach heat and nourishes kidney yin.

Indication：This formula is indicated for stomach heat and yin deficiency. The symptoms are toothache, headache, loose teeth, gingival bleeding, vexing heat and thirst, a red tongue with a dry yellow coating, xiao ke, and swift digestion with rapid hungering.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

Major Yin-Supplementing Pill

Action：Enriches yin and subdues fire.

Indication：Da Bu Yin Wan is used to treat patterns of yin deficiency with deficiency fire marked by steaming bone fever, night sweat, seminal emission, cough, hemoptysis, vexation, irascibility, pain and redness of the feet and knees, a red tongue with scanty coating, and a rapid, powerful pulse at the chi position.

View Details Tonic formulas