This product is the mature fruit of the deciduous shrub plant Vitex trifolia L. var. simplicifolia Cham. or Vitex trifolia L. of the European Verbena Herb family. It is mainly produced in Shandong, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian, among other places. It is mostly wild-harvested. Collected in summer, it is dried in the shade and used raw or stir-fried.

bubble_chart Properties and Meridians

Acrid and bitter, slightly cold. act on bladder, liver and stomach channels.

bubble_chart Efficacy

Releasing exterior with pungent-cool, clear and benefit head and eyes.

bubble_chart Indications

1. Used for wind-heat common cold, headache, and head wind. This product is pungent and can disperse wind, slightly cold to clear heat, light and floating to ascend, mainly dispersing the evils of the head and face, with the effect of dispelling wind to relieve pain. It is used to treat external contraction of wind-heat, headache, and dizziness, often combined with Chrysanthemum Flower, Mentha, etc. For headache and head wind, it is often combined with Puncturevine Caltrop Fruit, Sichuan Lovage Rhizome, Uncaria, etc.
2. Used for red eye swelling and pain, blurred vision, and excessive tearing. This product can release the exterior with pungent-cool properties, clear and benefit the head and eyes, thus it can be used to treat wind-heat attacking upwards, red eye swelling and pain, blurred vision, and excessive tearing, often combined with Chrysanthemum Flower, Cicada Slough, Gentian, etc. The medicinal property of this product is ascending and dispersing, clearing and benefiting the head and eyes. When combined with Astragalus Root, Tangshen, Peony Root, etc., it can also be used to treat the failure of clear yang to ascend, eye nebula, tinnitus, and deafness, such as tonifying qi Congming Decoction.
3. In addition, utilizing its function of dispelling wind to relieve pain, it can also be used to treat wind-dampness arthralgia, often combined with Notopterygium, Pubescent Angelica, Sichuan Lovage Rhizome, Saposhnikovia Root, etc., such as Notopterygium Overcoming Dampness Decoction.

bubble_chart Documentation

1. Benjing: "It governs the cold and heat between the sinews and bones, alleviates fixed arthralgia and spasms, and improves vision and strengthens teeth."
2. Bielu: "It treats head wind pain, cerebral tinnitus, and tearing of the eyes."

bubble_chart Usage and Dosage

Decoct and take 5-10g.

bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology

This product contains volatile oils, primarily composed of camphene and pinene, along with trace amounts of alkaloids and vitamin A, as well as Chastetree Fruit flavonoids, specifically vitexin. Chastetree Fruit has certain sedative, analgesic, and antipyretic effects. The extract from the leaves of Vitex, obtained through steam distillation, has the effect of enhancing peripheral and visceral microcirculation.