Pharmaceutical Name:

Fructus Aristlochiae

Botanical Name:

Aristolochia contorta Bge.
Aristolochia debilis Sieb. Et Zucc.

Common Name:

Aristolochia fruit
Birthwort fruit

Source of Earliest Record:

Yaoxing Lun

Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:

The ripe fruit is gathered in autumn and dried in the sun.

Properties and Taste:

Bitter, slightly pungent and cold

Meridians:

Lung and large intestine

Functions:

To clear the lungs and resolve phlegm
To stop cough and soothe asthma

Indications and Combinations:

1.      Heat in the lungs manifested as cough with profuse yellow sputum and asthma.
*Use with Loquat leaf (Pipaye), Peucedanum root (Qianhu), Mulberry bark (Sangbaipi) and Scutellaria root (Huangqin).

2.      Deficiency of the lungs manifested as cough with scanty sputum or with bloody sputum and shortness of breath.
*Use with Glehnia root (Shashen), Ophiopogon root (Maidong), Aster root (Ziwan) and Donkey hide gelatin (Ejiao).

Dosage:

3-10 g

Cautions:

Over dosage of the herb may cause nausea and vomiting.