Swallowwort Root (Baiwei)
| Pharmaceutical Name: | Radix Cynanchi |
| Botanical Name: | Cynanchum atratum Bge.; Cynanchum versicolor Bge. |
| Common Name: | Swallowwort Root |
| Source of Earliest Record: | Shennong Bencao Jing |
| Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations: | The roots, or rhizomes are gathered in autumn and dried in the sun. |
| Properties and Taste: | Bitter, salty and cold |
| Meridian: | Stomach and liver |
| Functions: | To clear heat and cool blood To benefit urination and relieve urinary tract infection |
| Indications and Combinations: | 1. Internal heat and deficient yin manifested as afternoon fever and night sweating or as febrile disease due to exogenous pathogenic heat at the nutritive and blood levels and accompanied by sustained fever. *Use with Wolfberry bark (Digupi) and Fresh rehmannia root (Shengdihuang). 2. Postpartum fever caused by deficient yin. *Use with Ginseng (Renshen) and Chinese angelica root (Danggui). 3. Urinary tract infection manifested as heat syndrome or bloody urine. *Use with Lophatherum (Danzhuye), Clematis stem (Mutong) and Talc (Huashi). 4. Boils, carbuncles, sore throat and snake bite. *Use externally and internally. |
| Dosage: | 3-12 g |