Pharmaceutical Name:

Radix Gentianae

Botanical Name:

Gentiana scabra Bge.
Gentiana triflora Pall.
Gentiana manshurica Kitag.

Common Name:

Chinese Gentian

Source of Earliest Record:

Shennong Bencao Jing

Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:

The roots, or rhizomes, are gathered in autumn , dried in the sun and cut into pieces.

Properties and Taste:

Bitter and cold

Meridian:

Liver, gall bladder and stomach

Functions:

To clear heat and dry dampness
To reduce fire in the liver

Indications and Combinations:

1.     Damp-heat syndrome:

a)       Damp-heat jaundice .
*Use with Oriental wormwood (Yinchenhao) and Capejasmine (Zhizi) .

b)       Damp-heat leukorrhea manifested as pain and swelling in the genitals and eczema.
*Use with Phellodendron bark (Huangbai), Flavescent sophora root (Kushen) and Plantain seed (Cheqianzi).

2.      Upward attack of liver fire manifested as headache, distending sensation in the head, red eyes, deafness and pain in the coastal regions. 
*Use with Scutellaria root (Huangqin), Capejasmine (Zhizi), Bupleurum root (Chaihu) and Clematis stem (Mutong).

3.     Fever, spasms and convulsions. 
*Used with Uncaria stem (Gouteng) and Ox gallstone (Niuhuang).

Dosage:

3-10 g

Cautions:

This herb is contraindicated in cases with weakness and cold in the spleen and stomach.