Nature: sweet, salty, cold

Enters: Liver, Heart

Actions: Anchors the Shen; clears liver heat; eliminates superficial visual obstructions; sedates the heart; settles tremors, convulsions, and palpitations; astringes, promotes tissue regeneration; enhances the skin.

Indications:
• Shen disturbance or liver wind: palpitations, childhood convulsions, seizures.
• Disharmony of heart and Shen: easily frightened or angered.
• Liver heat: red, swollen eyes, nebulas, pterygium, blurred vision.
• Skin: take 1-2g internally daily to enhance skin.
• Topical: for non-healing ulcers, macerated areas (usually throat or gums); applied to the eyes as a very fine powder or in eye drops for nebulas; applies to the skin to soften, refine, and enhance its color.
• Often cooked with tofu and water for two hours prior to being ground into powder.
• Bensky/gamble classifies with herbs that anchor the Shen.
Hsu: Antihistamine, anti-allergic, diuretic.

Dose: 0.3-1g usually directly as powder/pill