Dendrobium (Shihu)

Dendrobium (Shihu)

Pharmaceutical Name: Herba Dendrobii
Botanical Name: Dendrobium nobile Lindl
Dendrobium loddigesii Rolfe.
Dendrobium candidum Wall. Ex Lindl
Dendrobium chrysanthum Wall.
Dendrobium fimbriatum Hook. Var. oculatum Hook.
Common Name:Dendrobium
Source of Earliest Record: Shennong Bencao Jing
art Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations: The stems are gathered in the period between summer and autumn, dried in the sun and cut into pieces.
Properties and Taste: Sweet and slightly cold
Meridian: Lung and kidney
Functions: To tonify the yin and clear heat
To promote the production of body fluids and nourish the stomach
Indications and Combinations: 1.     Yin consumed by febrile diseases or deficient yin in the stomach manifested as dry tongue, thirst and red tongue proper with scanty coating.
*Use with Ophiopogon root (Maidong), Glehnia root (Shashen) and Fresh rehmannia root (Shengdihuang).
2. Afternoon fever caused by deficient yin and internal heat.
*Use with Fresh rehmannia root (Shengdihuang), Swallowwort root (Baiwei) and Asparagus root (Tianmendong).
Dosage: 6-15 g
Cautions: This herb should be cooked first before the other herbs are added to the decoction. It is contraindicated for a person in the early stage of febrile disease.