Pharmaceutical Name:

Folium bambusae

Botanical Name:

Phyllostachy nigra (Lodd.) Munro var. henonis (Mitf.) Stapf ex Rendle

Common Name:

Bamboo leaf
Bambusa

Source of Earliest Record:

Mingyi Bielu        

Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:

The leaves are picked at any time.  It is best to prepare fresh leaves for use.

Properties and Taste:

Sweet and cold

Meridian:

Heart, lung, and stomach

Functions:

To clear heat and relieve irritability
To promote urination

Indications and Combinations:

1.     Thirst in febrile disease
*Use with Gypsum (Shigao) and Ophiopogon root (Maidong) in the formula Zhuye Shigao Tang.

2.      Flaring up of heat fire manifested as ulceration in the mouth or on the tongue; or heart fire shifting to the small intestine manifested as dribbling urination.
*Use with Clematis stem (Mutong) and Fresh rehmannia root (Shengdihuang) in the formula Daochi San.

Dosage:

6-15 g