Pharmaceutical Name:

Semen Ginkgo

Botanical Name:

Ginkgo biloba L.

Common Name:

Ginkgo Seed

Source of Earliest Record:

Bencao Gangmu

Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:

The ripe seeds are gathered in autumn, cleaned and dried in the sun. After the shells of the seeds have been broken, the seeds are removed and pounded into pieces.

Properties and Taste:

Sweet, bitter, astringent, neutral and slightly toxic

Meridian:

Lung

Functions:

To strengthen lung Qi and soothe asthma
To relieve leukorrhea

Indications and Combinations:

1.     Asthma:

a)       Asthma with stifling sensation in the chest and cough with profuse, dilute sputum.
*Use with Ephedra (Mahuang) and Licorice root (Gancao).

b)       Asthma with stifling sensation in the chest and cough with thick yellow sputum.
*Use with Scutellaria root (Huangqin) and Mulberry bark (Sangbaipi) in the formula Dingchuan Tang.

2.     Leukorrhea:

a)       Downward flowing of damp-heat manifested as yellow, odorous leukorrhea.
*Use with Phellodendron bark (Huangbai) and Plantain seed (Cheqianzi) in the formula Yihuang Tang.

b)       Deficiency of kidney yang manifested as whitish, odorless leukorrhea.
*Use with Cinnamon bark (Rougui), Astragalus root (Huangqi) and Dogwood fruit (Shanzhuyu).

Dosage:

6-10 g

Cautions:

Over dosage of the herb is toxic.