Pharmaceutical Name:

Rhizome Anemarrhenae

Botanical Name:

Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bge.

Common Name:

Anemarrhena root

Source of Earliest Record:

Shennong Bencao Jing

Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:

The rhizomes are gathered in spring or autumn.  After the fibrous roots have been removed, the rhizomes are cleaned, dried and soaked in water.  Finally, the skin is peeled off, cut into slices and baked with salt.

Properties and Taste:

Sweet, bitter and cold

Meridian:

Lung, stomach and kidney

Functions:

To clear heat and reduce fire
To nourish yin and moisten dryness

Indications and Combinations:

1.     Excessive heat at the qi level.
*Use with Gypsum (Shigao) in the formula Baihu Tang.

2.      Cough due to heat in the lungs with yellow phlegm or dry cough due to deficient yin.
*Use with Tendrilled fritillary bulb (Chuan bei mu) in the formula Ermu San.

3.     Deficient yin of the lungs and kidneys with heat signs manifested as afternoon fever, night sweating and feverish sensation of the palms, soles and chest.
*Use with Phellodendron bark (Huang bai).

4.      Diabetes manifested as extreme thirst and hunger and profuse urine.
*Use with Trichosanthes root (Tian hua fen), Schisandra fruit (Wu wei zi), Ophiopogon root (Mai dong) and Pueraria root (Ge gen) in the formula Yuye Tang.

Dosage:

6-12 g

Cautions:

This herb is contraindicated in diarrhea due to weakness of the spleen.