Nature: sweet, slightly cold

Enters: Liver, Stomach

Actions: Clears Yin deficiency heat; clears fever due to parasites; cools the blood, stops bleeding; reduces childhood nutritional impairment.

Indications:
• Yin deficiency: tidal fever, night sweats, steaming bone disorder.
• Accumulation with heat or parasites: digestive disorders in children with malnutrition, fever, abdominal bloating, thin muscles.
• Heat in the blood: epistaxis, uterine bleeding, bloody cough, hematuria.
• Bensky/Gamble classifies with herbs that clear heat and cool blood.
* Arenaria juncea, Silena jenissensis, and Gypsophila oldhamiama are also used as this herb.

Dose: 3-9g
The ubiquitous Western species – Stellaria media, Chickweed – is used in Western herbalism (aerial parts or whole plant):
Grieve: Refrigerant, demulcent.
K&R: General tonic, cardiotonic. Fire, water, and metal yin.
• Fire: asthenia, hypotension, palpitations, anemia, excellent tonic for convalescents.
• Water: edema, glomerulonephritis, nephrotic syndromes, asystole, cardiac weakness, acute articular rheumatism, scarlatina, anemia.
• Metal: bronchitis, pleurisy, cough, colds, atonic bowel, strengthens Lung and bronchial tubes, topical for skin conditions, especially burns, hemorrhoids, ulcers.
• A cholesterol cleanser, can be used long term to clear out cellulite for obesity, lipomas and other tumors.
• Also for arrhythmias, depression.
PCBDP: (herb) Antipruritic, vulnerary, emollient, antirheumatic.
• Poultice for eczema, psoriasis, ulcers, boils.
JC: (herb) Demulcent, emollient, nutritive, resolvent, pectoral, alterative, refrigerant, mucilage, discutient.
• Excellent for pulmonary complaints, any form of internal or external inflammation of the membranes or skin, and weakness of the stomach and bowels, especially bleeding of the Lungs or bowels.
• Topical: for wounds, skin diseases, inflamed surfaces, etc.
• Also used as a weight loss aid.