HomeTraditional Chinese Medicine HerbsDivaricate Saposhnikovia

Divaricate Saposhnikovia

Latin Pharmaceutical Name

Saposhnikoviae Radix

Chinese Name

防风

Category

Roots and rhizomes

Divaricate SaposhnikoviaMore Info

Production Regions

Primarily produced in eastern Inner Mongolia.

Macroscopic Features

Cylindrical or fusiform, slightly curved, 20~30cm long, head diameter is about 1cm, middle diameter is 1~1.5cm. Externally grayish-yellowish or grayish-brown. Root head has dense thin ring striations with thick brown hairs; apex has scars of stem; outer skin is wrinkled and rough, with irregular wrinkles and thin horizontal lines; both the scattered dirty-yellow long horizontally-oriented lenticels and the spotty raised scars of rootlets can be seen. Loose and soft texture, easily broken; fractured surface is not smooth; xylem is pale yellow, cortex is yellowish-brown with cracks and radial rays. faintly aromatic odor; slightly sweet taste.

Quality Requirements

Superior medicinal material is thick and strong, thins and tight skin, without hairy head, fractured surface has brown rings and pale yellow center.

Properties

Acrid, sweet; slightly warm.

Functions

Dispels wind to release the exterior pattern, dispels dampness and relieve pain, arrests convulsions. Apply to exterior syndrome due to wind-cold, headache, dizziness, rigid neck, rheumatic arthralgia with wind-cold, joint pain and sour, convulsion of limbs, tetanus.

Technical Terms

'Broom head’: This refers to dark brown or brown hair-like remnants of leaf stem, which is often, seem as the head of fang feng roots, the shape is similar to a broom. ‘Earthworm head’: this refers to obvious dense horizontal striations at the head of root medicinal materials, and is also called ‘flagpole top’. ‘Chrysanthemum heart’: this refers to radial lines seen on the fractured surface of medicinal material, which appear similar to an open chrysanthemum flower; also called ‘chrysanthemum lines’.

Origin

The dried root of Saposhnikovia divaricate (Turcz.) Schischk.(Apiaceae).

Divaricate SaposhnikoviaHerbs 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 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

Important Formula for Painful Diarrhea

Action：Supplements the spleen and softens the liver, dispels dampness and arrests diarrhea.

Indication：Painful diarrhea due to a deficient spleen and a vigorous liver, characterized by borborygmus, abdominal pain, diarrhea with abdominal pain, pain that is relieved after diarrhea, the guan pulses of both hands not in harmony (a wiry pulse on the left hand and a moderate pulse on the right).

View Details Harmonizing 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

Notopterygium Dampness-Drying Decoction

Action：Dispels wind, overcomes dampness, and relieves pain.

Indication：Qiang Huo Sheng Shi Tang is indicated for bi syndrome caused by wind-dampness in the exterior. The symptoms are pain of the shoulder and back, headache and heavy body sensation, pain of the waist and spine that make the patient unable to turn over. The coating is white and the pulse is floating.

View Details Dampclearing formulas

True Jade Powder

Action：Dispels wind and dissolves phlegm, relieves spasms and arrests convulsion.

Indication：Yu Zhen San is indicated for tetanus. The symptoms are lockjaw, tightly-closed mouth and lips, stiff body, opisthotonus, and a wiry, tight pulse; there could even be gnashed teeth and a contracted tongue.

View Details Wind-calming formulas

Jade Wind-Barrier Powder

Action：Boosts qi, consolidates the exterior, and arrests sweating.

Indication：Yu Ping Feng San is indicated for patterns of spontaneous sweating due to exterior deficiency. Sweating, aversion to wind, a pale complexion, a pale tongue with a thin and white coating, and a floating, deficient pulse mark the clinical manifestations. It is also used to treat patients with a deficient constitution and deficient wei qi that is vulnerable to external wind pathogens.

View Details Tonic formulas

Bupleurum Correction Beverage

Action：Releases the exterior and disperses cold.

Indication：Zheng Chai Hu Yin is indicated for a mild pattern of externally contracted wind-cold. The symptoms are mild aversion to wind-cold, fever, absence of sweating, headache, general body pain, a thin and white tongue coating and a superficial pulse.

View Details Exterior-releasing formulas

Immortal Formula Life-Giving Beverage

Action：Clears heat, resolves toxins, disperses swelling, promotes suppuration, invigorates blood, and relieves pain.

Indication：This formula is indicated for yang patterns in the initial stage with sores, abscesses, and ulcers. The symptoms are redness, swelling, and pain in the affected areas, fear of cold with fever, a thin white or yellow tongue coating, and a forceful, rapid pulse.

View Details Heat-clearing 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

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