This product is the root of the Platycodon Root family plant Apricotleaf Ladybell Root (Adenophora trachelioides Maxim.) or Thin-leaved Apricotleaf Ladybell Root (Adenophora remotiflora (Sieb. et Zucc.) Miq.). Apricotleaf Ladybell Root is distributed in Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Zhejiang; Thin-leaved Apricotleaf Ladybell Root is distributed in Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning. It is harvested in spring, with stems and leaves removed, washed, and dried.

bubble_chart Properties and Meridians

Sweet, cold. Act on lung and spleen meridians.

• Bielu: "Sweet, cold."
• 《Qianjinyi‧ materia medica》: "nontoxic."
• Bencao Congxin: " sweet and bland, slightly cold."
• Depei Bencao: "act on hand taiyin meridian."
• Bencao Qiuzhen: " act on lung and spleen meridians."

bubble_chart Efficacy

Clearing heat, removing toxins, resolving phlegm.

bubble_chart Indications

Dry cough, sore throat, consumptive thirst, boils, and sores.

bubble_chart Documentation

• Bielu: "Relieves various dermatitis medicamentosa."
• "Shi Yi Xin Jing": "Benefits lung qi, harmonizes the middle, improves vision, relieves pain."
• Rihuazi Bencao: "Treats snake and insect bites, heat-induced mania, warm diseases, and summer heat poison arrows."
• Gangmu: "Mainly treats cough, consumptive thirst, priapism, and toxic sores, boils, and swellings."
• Yinpian Xincan: "Treats deficiency damage, lung heat, dry cough, generates body fluids, nourishes the stomach, and reduces steaming heat."
• "Scientific Folk Herbs": "Suitable for pharyngitis, acute bronchitis, etc., dispels phlegm with its mucilaginous properties."
• "Zhejiang Chinese Medicinals Handbook": "Clears lung fire, transforms dry phlegm. Treats lung heat cough, and resolves heat accumulation in the chest and heart."

bubble_chart Usage and Dosage

For internal use: decoct in water, 1-3 qian; grind into powder or make into pills. For external use: grind into powder and apply as a paste or mash and apply directly.

bubble_chart Selected Prescriptions

• For acute and chronic bronchitis: Fresh root of Apricotleaf Ladybell (with outer rough skin scraped off) one liang (three qian if dried), plus loquat leaf (with hair removed) five qian. Decocted with water and taken. ("Common Herbal Remedies of Zhejiang")
• For the disease of priapism, where the penis remains erect and semen is discharged without intercourse, occurring after consumptive thirst, then prepare Yongju: one pig kidney, one sheng of soybeans, Apricotleaf Ladybell Root, Gypsum each three liang, Ginseng, Poria with Pine (or Poria), Magnetite (wrapped in cotton), Anemarrhena, Pueraria Root, Skullcap Root, Trichosanthes Root, Liquorice Root each three liang. The above twelve ingredients, with one dou five sheng of water, first boil the pig kidney and soybeans to obtain one dou, remove the residue, then add the other ingredients and boil to obtain three sheng. Divide and take, drink when thirsty, for those with lower energizer heat, take one dose at night, and stop when the tendency of the disease gradually subsides. (Qianjin Fang Pig Kidney Apricotleaf Ladybell Root Soup)
• For boils and sores: One cup of fresh Apricotleaf Ladybell Root juice, remove the residue, and apply. (Qianjin Yifang)
• For facial blemishes, to remove scars and black moles: Apricotleaf Ladybell Root two liang, Cassia Central Bark three fen. Grind the above ingredients into a fine powder, take one qian each time mixed with vinegar and water, three times a day. (Shenghui Fang)
• To counteract the poison of Gelsemium elegans (which resembles celery and can be fatal if mistakenly eaten): Apricotleaf Ladybell Root eight liang, six sheng of water, boil to obtain two sheng, divide and take warm in two doses. (Jingui Yaolue)