Pseudostellaria Root (Taizishen)
| Pharmaceutical Name: | Radix Pseudostellariae |
| Botanical Name: | Pseudostellaria heterophylla (Miq.) Pax ex Pax et Hoffm. |
| Common Name: | Pseudostellaria Root |
| Source of Earliest Record: | Zhongguo Yaoyong Zhiwu Zhi |
| Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations: | The tuberous roots of the cultivated pseudostellaris are dug in the period around the Great Heat (twelfth solar term). After the fibrous roots are removed, the roots are dried in the sun. |
| Properties and Taste: | Sweet, slightly bitter and neutral |
| Meridian: | Spleen and lung |
| Functions: | To replenish Qi and promote body fluids |
| Indications and Combinations: | 1. Deficiency of the spleen manifested as poor appetite and lassitude. *Use with Dioscorea (Shanyao), Hyacinth bean (Biandou), Germinated millet (Guya) and Germinated barley (Maiya). 2. Deficient yin of the lungs manifested as dry cough or cough with scanty sputum. *Use with Glehnia root (Shashen) and Ophiopogon root (Maidong). 3. Deficient Yin of the stomach manifested as thirst. *Use with Dendrobium (Shihu) and Trichosanthes root (Tianhuafen). 4. Deficiency of the spleen leading to deficiency of both Qi and blood manifested as palpitations, insomnia and sweating. *Use with Wild jujube seed (Suanzaoren) and Schisandra fruit (Wuweizi). |
| Dosage: | 10-30 g |