Dahurian Angelica Root (Baizhi)
| Pharmaceutical Name: | Radix Angelicae Dahuricae |
| Botanical Name: | Angelica dahurica (Fisch. Ex Hoffm.) Benth. et Hook. f.; Angelica dauburica (Fisch. ex Hoffm.) Benth. et Hook. f. var. formosana (Boiss.) Shan et Yuan |
| Common Name: | Dahurian Angelica root |
| Source of Earliest Record: | Shennong Bencao Jing |
| art Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations: | The root is dug in the period between summer and autumn, when the leaves turn yellow. The fibrous roots are removed, dried, soaked in water and cut into slices. |
| Properties and Taste: | Pungent and warm |
| Meridian: | Lung and spleen |
| Functions: | To expel wind and release the exterior To reduce swelling and discharge pus and dampness To stop pain |
| Indications and Combinations: | 1. Wind-cold exterior syndrome manifested by headache, supraobital pain and nasal obstruction. *Use with Chinese green onion (Congbai), Prepared soybean (Douchi) and Fresh ginger (Shengjiang). 2. Thick and sticky nasal discharge (as in thinitis, nasosinusitis). *Use with Xanthium fruit (Cang’erzi) and Magnolia flower (Xinyi) in the formula Cang’er San. 3. Boils, carbuncles, ulceration and skin diseases. *Use with Trichosanthes fruit (Gualou), Tendrilled fritillary bulb (Chuanbeimu) and Dandelion herb (Pugongying). 4. Damp-cold type of leukorrhea manifested as watery, whitish and profuse leukorrhea with no offensive smell. *Use with White atractylodes (Baizhu), Cuttlefish bone (Wuzeigu) and Poria (Fuling). 5. Damp-heat type of leukorrhea manifested by thick, yellow and profuse leukorrhea with offensive smell. *Use with Phellodendron bark (Huangbai), Plantain seed (Cheqianzi) and Flavescent sophora root (Kushen). |
| Dosage: | 3-10 g |
| Cautions: | This herb is contraindicated in yin deficiency. |