Pharmaceutical Name:

Flos Mume

Botanical Name:

Prumus mume (Sieb.) Zieb. Et Zucc.

Common Name:

Mume flower
Japanese Apricot flower

Source of Earliest Record:

Bencao Gangmu

Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:

The flowers or flower buds are gathered in January or February and dried in the sun or baked.

Properties and Taste:

Sour, astringent and neutral

Meridian:

Liver and stomach

Functions:

To promote the free flow of qi in the liver and reduce stagnation
To regulate qi and harmonize the stomach.

Indications and Combinations:

1.     Qi stagnation in the liver and stomach manifested as distension and pain in the hypochondriac regions, belching and epigastric pain.
*Use with Bupleurum root (Chaihu), Cyperus tuber (Xiangfu), Green tangerine peel (Qingpi) and Costus root (Muxiang).

2.      Phlegm and qi stagnated in the throat (Globus hystericus) manifested as the sensation of a foreign body in the throat.
*Use with Trichosanthes peel (Gualoupi), Tangerine peel (Chenpi), Mulberry bark (Sangbaipi), Albizia bark (Hehuanpi) and Perilla leaf (Zisuye).

Dosage:

3-6 g