Pharmaceutical Name:

Radix Linderae

Botanical Name:

Lindera strychnifolia (Sieb. Et Zucc.) Vill.

Common Name:

Lindera root
Spicebush root

Source of Earliest Record:

Bencao Shiyi

Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:

The roots are dug in August. After the fibrous roots and bark have been removed, the roots are cut into slices and dried in the sun.

Properties and Taste:

Pungent and warm

Meridian:

Lung, spleen, kidney and urinary bladder

Functions:

To regulate qi and stop pain
To warm the kidneys and dispel cold.

Indications and Combinations:

1.     Cold and qi stagnation:

a)       Manifested as stifling sensation in the chest and costal pain.
*Use with Trichosanthes fruit (Gualou), Curcuma root (Yujin) and Bitter orange (Zhiqiao).

b)       Manifested as epigastric and abdominal distension and pain.
*Use with Costus root (Muxiang).

        c)       Manifested as painful swelling of testicles or scrotum, or hernia.
*Use with Fennel fruit (Xiaohuixiang) and Green tangerine peel (Qingpi) in the formula Tiantai Wuyao San.

d)       Manifested as dysmenorrhea.
*Use with Cyperus tuber (Xiangfu), Chinese angelica root (Danggui) and Chuanxiong rhizome (Chuanxiong).

2.      Kidney yang deficiency and deficiency and cold of the urinary bladder manifested as frequent urination and enuresis.
*Use with Bitter cardamom (Yizhiren) and Dioscorea (Shanyao) in the formula Suoquan Wan.

Dosage:

3-10 g