Nature: bitter, cold

Enters: Heart, Lung, Stomach

Actions: Clears heat; eliminates toxicity; cools the blood; benefits the throat; strongly relieves swelling and disperses stagnation.

Indications:
• Warm febrile diseases, warm epidemic disorders.
• Swelling: painful, swollen, sore throat, mumps.
• Damp-heat: jaundice.
• Very broad spectrum and powerful antiviral and antimicrobial effects.
• Viral infections: quite effective for encephalitis B, hepatitis A, B and C, EPI’s.
MLT: Ban lan gen and Da qing ye are the most powerful anti-viral herbs in all of herbal medicine.
• Good for skin blotches from heat in the blood.
• Agent Orange disease.
• Similar to Western Baptisia tinctoria (Wild Indigo).
SD: May help antidote lead poisoning.
DY: With Shan dou gen for mutual reinforcement, to clear heat, eliminate toxicity, and strongly disinhibit the throat. For such indications as:
– 1. Painful, red, and swollen throat due to replete heat. This combination is usually sufficient to treat severe throat inflammations (including strep throat, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis, etc.) due to heat-toxins or replete heat. However, when this combination needs further reinforcement, add She gan, Jin yin hua, Lian qiao, Xuan shen, and Gan cao.
– 2. Toothache and painful, swollen gums due to replete heat.
– 3. Oral ulcers due to replete heat.
• With Xuan shen to clear heat, resolve toxins, cool the blood, nourish Yin, downbear fire, disinhibit the throat, disperse swelling, and stop pain. For painful, red, swollen throat with dry, red tongue, and a fine, rapid pulse due to Yin deficiency generating a deficiency fire or replete fire which damages Yin. For heat-toxins, add Shan dou gen and Gan cao. For deficiency fire, add Mai men dong and Sheng di huang.

Dose: 15-30g