Aster Root (Zi Wan)
| Pharmaceutical Name: | Radix Asteris |
| Botanical Name: | Aster tataricus L. f. |
| Common Name: | Aster root Purple aster root |
| Source of Earliest Record: | Shennong Bencao Jing |
| art Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations: | The roots, or rhizomes, are dug in spring or autumn. Then they are cleaned, dried in the sun and cut into pieces. |
| Properties and Taste: | Sweet, bitter and very cold |
| Meridian: | Lung |
| Functions: | To resolve phlegm and stop cough |
| Indications and Combinations: | Cough: a) Cough due to invasion by exogenous pathogenic factors manifested as cough with profuse sputum. *Use with Schizonepeta (Jing jie) and Swallowwort (Bai qian). b) Cough due to deficiency of the lungs manifested by scanty sputum or with bloody sputum. *Use with Anemarrhena rhizome (Zhi mu), Tendrilled fritillary bulb (Chuan bei mu) and Donkey hide gelatin (E jiao) in the formula Ziwan Tang. |
| Dosage: | 5-10 g |