Reed Root (Lugen)
| Pharmaceutical Name: | Rhizoma Phragmitis |
| Botanical Name: | Phragmites communis Trin. |
| Common Name: | Phragmites Reed root |
| Source of Earliest Record: | Mingyi Bielu |
| Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations: | The rhizomes are dug at the end of spring, in the beginning of summer or in the autumn. After the fibrous roots have been removed, the skin is peeled off and cleaned and dried in the sun. |
| Properties and Taste: | Sweet and cold |
| Meridian: | Lung and stomach |
| Functions: | To clear heat and relieve irritability To promote the production of body fluids and relieve thirst To stop vomiting |
| Indications and Combinations: | 1. Febrile diseases manifested as thirst, irritability and fever. *Use with Gypsum (Shigao), Ophiopogon root (Maidong) and Trichosanthes root (Tianhuafen). 2. Heat in the stomach with vomiting and belching. *Use with juice of Fresh ginger (Shengjiang), Bamboo shavings (Zhuru) and Loquat leaf (Pipaye). 3. Heat in the in the lungs manifested as cough, expectoration of thick, yellow sputum and pulmonary abscess. *Use with Honeysuckle flower (Jinyinhua), Houttuynia (Yuxingcao) and Benincasa seed (Dongguaren). |
| Dosage: | 15-30 g |
| Cautions: | This herb should be used with caution in cases with cold and deficient spleen and stomach. |