Sylvan Institute of Botanical Medicine

Ambrosia – A Little Commentary

thomas — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 03:06:30 +0000

The genus Ambrosia is native to North America but a couple of the species are native in other places in the world and several species have become successful weeds worldwide (see below). The common name, Ragweed, is well known to those who suffer from allergies because the pollen from many of the species in this genus is the culprit for seasonal (mostly spring and early summer) allergies. Ironically, this plant appears to be, in the author’s experience, the most potent plant available for the effective amelioration of symptoms associated with hay fever including itching eyes and sinus [congestion], sneezing, scratchy throat, etc. Some Western herbalists swear by the prophylactic application of Ambrosia sp., providing a moderate dose (15-45 drops) of the tincture a couple of months prior to the patient’s allergy season.

The primary plant in the monograph, Ambrosia dumosa, is the species I have the most experience with and I consider it to be more potent than other species. Nevertheless, manyMany of my colleagues who have more experience with other species have suggested that they find those species to be more than adequate for the above use. One of these, A. artemesiifolia, is probably the most commonly used species, and I have also found it to be useful in the same way as the primary species is described above. However, my experience with A. artemesiifolia is far too limited to compare them in specific ways. This species (A. artemesiifolia) has the added of havingbenefit ofhaving a far greater range, including naturalization in China. While A. dumosa is only found in the southeastern portions of California, southern Nevada, most of western Arizona, and only the furthest southwestern portion of Utah, as well as northwestern Mexico, A. artemesiifolia is found throughout the United States and A. psilostachya can be found throughout much of North and Central America, part of South America, as well as Western Europe, Australia, and South Africa. The use of organoleptic observation will provide insights into the potency of the various species. From my observations, the more acrid and aromatic species tend to be more drying and fast acting, both in the treatment of phlegm and in coursing wind. I have found that most to least bitter and acrid specie are (in descending order, A. dumosa, A. psilostachya, and A. artemesiifolia.

Solidago species (Goldenrod)

thomas — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:46:01 +0000

Here’s a little on Goldenrod (Solidago sp.) from the commentary in Thomas’s up-coming book.

Solidago is a genus of about 120 species with a center of biological diversity in North America. There are a handful of species in Mexico and South America and Europe, but only three species native to China. All three species are, or have been used in medicine with, not surprisingly, similar indications (see below for translations).

Although the center of biological diversity may be in North America, review of the literature clearly shows that across the globe, where there is a species of Solidago, there is some record of medicinal use. And, once more, the continuum of usage across the genus is striking. There are no less than 10 species used in medicine (probably a lot more) from 4 continents and the overwhelming majority of the usages for these species are the same or similar. One study published in 1985 (Flavonoids of Solidago canadensis and S. virgaurea V. S. Batyuk and S. N. Kovaleva) states, “Thus, free flavonols and their biosides have been detected in S. canadensis and S.virgaurea. The flavonoid compositions of the species of goldenrod studies are similar to one another; differing only by the ratios of the individual components.” The importance of this statement is not so much in the recognition that these two plants have similar (often the same) chemical components, but also that these species are native to North America and Europe respectively and the geographical disparity of their locale and similarity of both their usage and chemistry might suggest that other plants within the genus, also having similar documented usage, might also have similar chemistry. There is a lot that we do not know about this genus, but what we do know, clearly shows that the species within this genus are both useful and safe. It is noteworthy that the major species mentioned in Chinese medicine (S. decurrens) is also native to a number of other surrounding countries, including Russia where there appears to be a significant amount of research available. Unfortunately at this time I am unable to access this information due to the language barrier.

Gypsywort: Lycopus

thomas — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:34:04 +0000

Here’s a little commentary on what Culpeper wrote about Gypsywort (Lycopus europaeus). The genus Lycopus is used in Europe, North America, and China, and perhaps other places. Do you know of other species used? I have used two North American species (L. americanus and L. asper), the former from the East Coast while the latter is from the West. I have also gathered and used the Chinese species L. lucidus, a much larger species that has proven very easy to grow. This commentary is a little snippet from my forthcoming book, enjoy.

Culpeper says, “The decoction of the leaves and flowers made in wine, and thaken, dissolveth the congealed blood in those that are bruised inwardly by a fall, or otherwise, and is very effectual for any inward wounds, thrusts or stabs in the body or bowels; and is an especial help in all wound-drinks, and for those that are liver-grown (as they call it.)” Here Culpeper is obviously discussing this plants use for blood stasis, and likely has as similar understanding to our Chinese medicinal understanding, at least in these particular cases of injury. At the end he says that it is “and especial help …. for those that are liver-grown,” which means an enlarged liver. This seems to indicate a direct action on the liver. Culpeper also discusses this medicinal by saying, “ It is wonderful in curing all manner of ulcers and sores, whether new and fresh, or old and inveterate;…gangrenes and fistulas …” Here he mentions external application, but is not specific, so it is difficult to say whether he used it both internally and externally, or only externally. It is likely that he was thinking about this as a plant that would quicken the blood and thus bring fresh blood supply to the area and assist healing since this was a common understanding at the time, thus reinforcing the idea that this medicinal quickens the blood.

A Bit of Juniper Commentary

thomas — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:04:07 +0000

Culpeper says of Juniper, “The berries are hot in the third degree, and dry but in the first…” Here, Culpeper states that the herb is very hot, but not overly drying, or at least not in a way that will damage the body unless taken in excessive doses. He also says, “…they provoke urine exceedingly, and therefore are very available to dysuries and stranguaries.” Also, “[the berries] break the stone” This remains a common use of this medicinal today. As noted in the monograph above, Juniper is a very good medicinal for the treatment of turbid dampness in various parts of the body, but is likely most known for treating urinary problems. In another part of his monograph he says, “… [Juniper] strengthens the stomach exceedingly, and expels wind; indeed there is scarce a better remedy for wind in any part of the body, or the colick, than the chymical oil drawn from the berries.” Also, “procure appetite when lost” While I have not used the oil in this fashion, mainly because that is not part of my training, I can say that the berries serve this function quite well. He also makes a number of references to its possible connection to the treatment of turbid dampness or phlegm with statements such as, “the berries stay all fluxes” “are excellent good for all palsies, and falling sickness” “strengthen the brain exceedingly, help the memory…help the gout….are excellent good in all sorts of agues…and strengthen all the limbs of the body.” Although these statements alone are difficult to evaluate and understand in terms of of turbid dampness or phlegm from the Chinese Medicine point of view, when looking at all of them and keeping in mind the rest of the medicinal’s uses, one can see that there is a strong connection to his use of the medicinal and Chinese Medicine’s understanding of these pathologies.

Mullein Flower

thomas — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 06:37:02 +0000

Mullein flower
Verbascum thapsus and others
Scrophulariaceae
Chinese name: máo ruǐ huā (毛蕊花)
Verbasci flos
Favor and Qi: acrid, bitter, warm
Channels entered: liver, heart, lung
Actions: diuretic, expectorant
Functions & Indications: Moves qi and resolves blood stasis for pain due to qi stagnation and blood stasis, such as earache, hemorrhoids, and knocks and falls. For this function, the flower is used both internally and externally as an oil or liniment. With acrid warmth, this medicinal quickens the blood and moves qi to effectively relieve pain. Although this medicinal is not narcotic in its effects, it is quite useful and similar in action to herbs such as hónghuā and can be used as a substitute or as a duìyào for an effective pain-relieving combination.
Cautions: none noted. Always use caution when using this, or any medicine, if putting it into the ear canal. The oil of this flower is one of the most common products to apply in a child’s ear when they have an earache. Be sure the oil is neither too hot nor too cold; just above body temperature is the best.
Dosage and Preparation: infusion or short decoction 2-6g; fresh plant tincture 1-3ml; oil infusion as needed.

Hops: A Little Commentary

thomas — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 02:41:05 +0000

Hops is native to Europe and West Asia, growing as a perennial vine, it inhabits thickets on forest margins in the wild, but is heavily cultivated. Hops is one of the most consumed herbs in the world, next to tea and coffee, because of its use in the production of most beer. Hops is a warm, acrid, and bitter herb but most people find it pleasant to consume, so it is easily incorporated into formulas or even given as a simple. Hops makes both a good addition to a decoction as well as a good tincture.
Culpeper says of hops, “This, in physical operations, is to open obstructions of the liver and spleen, to cleanse the blood, to loosen the belly, to cleanse the reins from gravel, and provoke urine.” This statement seems to support the second function I have applied to this medicinal. While the phrase, “cleanse the blood,” is quite nebulous I think it speaks to hops’ bitter nature, which helps to move the liver qi. Since the liver stores the blood, when the liver qi becomes depressed this may be viewed as a situation where there is “unclean blood” by physicians such as Culpeper.
He also says, “A syrup made of the juice and sugar, cureth the yellow jaundice, easeth the head-ache that comes of heat, and tempereth the heat of the liver and stomach, and is profitably given in long and hot agues that rise in choler and blood.” Here we have a clear sense that Culpeper was discussing heat pattern, even from the Chinese point of view, which leads us to consider why we would use a medicinal that is warm in such patterns. This is when it is important to remember we always work in formulas. Warm herbs move, as a general rule, and Culpeper seems to be discussing a condition where heat has cause qi to either become stagnant or is moving in a counter-flow direction. Thus, even he understood that by using a medicinal such as hops would help to create a situation where relief from such a pattern could be effected.

Devil’s Club

thomas — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 10:26:47 +0000

Thomas’ new book is in the editorial phase now so we thought we would publish some snippets from it here on the SIBM blog. These are only little pieces of larger monographs…

Enjoy!

Dispels wind and dampness and boosts qi for the treatment of chronic wind-damp-cold taxation with symptoms of joint pain, muscle aches (especially those that get better with mild exercise but get worse with excessive exercise), fatigue, etc.

Dispels wind, transforms phlegm and rheum, boosts qi, and stops cough for the treatment of chronic taxation cough with accumulation of phlegm and/or rheum. This herb can also be used for acute coughs, especially when there is concurrent qi vacuity.

Courses the exterior, expels wind, and supplements vacuity for external contraction of wind-cold with concurrent vacuity qi. Devil’s Club courses the exterior and expels wind with bitter acridity, while supplementing qi with its slightly sweet flavor. Although this herb has supplementing properties, I, as well as some other herbalists, do not consider it a strong supplementing herb, although definite in action. However, some herbalists do consider it a strong supplementing herb, so there is some debate about this.

Musings on the Season

thomas — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:39:52 +0000

The last couple days have really let us know here in Beijing that the Summer is indeed over and that Autumn has dug its heels in. We have had bright blue skies, something we don’t see enough of here in Beijing, brought in by the cool north winds. I was up at the Autumn Reine Learning Garden twice this week to collect seed and clean out the greenhouse in preparation for a little “artificial” growing season that we can steal here. The finches are absolutely loving the Perilla frutensces seeds that I have yet to harvest and the roma tomatoes show clear signs that it has been a bit more nippy there (20km north of the city) than we have experienced here in the concrete jungle of ~25million people.

I have also been making some tinctures of the last vestiges of above ground parts such as artichoke leaf, Hyssop, and a few others. I am waiting with baited breath for the time when I can start harvesting the root crops for tincture. There will be echinacea, mullein, and Chinese skullcap, among others. And, the Xanthium fruits are almost mature. I will be, for the first time, using the traditional preparation techniques to get to pesky spines off the fruits and prepare them for tincture and tea. We have a about 8-10 of volunteers in the garden that have gotten pretty large, so I expect a harvest of around 3-4 kg of the fruits.

The traditional preparation of Xanthium includes dry frying the fruits in a wok until the spine have burned off. This is also supposed to reduce some amount of toxicity this amazing sinus medicinal is supposed to have. This botanical is frequently combined with another fine sinus herb, Magnolia buds, to create one of the greatest combinations (dui yao 對藥) I know for treating sinus congestion. Of course I also like to add Angelica dehurica (bai zhi 白芷), Ambrosia dumosa (or other species), Chinese Skullcap, Yerba Santa, and Yerba Mansa to this combination and I, along with Benjamin Zappin, have found this to be extraordinary as a starting point for difficult to treat, or even simple, sinus congestion.

Small Flowered Sage – Salvia plebeia 荔枝草

thomas — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 15:03:21 +0000

Small Flowered Sage Salvia plebeia 荔枝草 (li zhi cao)

Many of you know about our series, Bio-Regional Herbalism. Since our last newsletter we have had several great webinars on Bio-Regional Herbalism including Eric Yarnell, Nicole Telkes, and Patricia Kyritsi Howell. So, to honor those excellent webinars, I thought I would write a small piece about a regional herb I use here in Beijing. It is pictured above. Its botanical name is Salvia plebeia and would probably be known as Small Flowered Sage, if it had a common English name. The Chinese name is 荔枝草 Li Zhi Cao. The first two characters is the name for Lichi fruit, but it is unclear why this is a name for an completely unrelated plant; the third character is simply the character for “grass” or “herb.’ It does have other names such as 水羊耳 shui yang er (water goat ear), 过冬青 guo dong qing (“clear after winter”), 天明精 tian ming jing (“heaven’s bright essence”), 凤眼草 feng yan cao (pheonix eye herb), and others.

The plant grows throughout most of China as well as much of Asia, growing from tropical to temperate environments. I am just learning about this plant from my project, the Autumn Reine Learning Garden. We are practicing a modified form of permaculture there and as such have let the weeds, more or less, grow to cover the soil and start the healing process. Along with many other plants I started to see this plant emerge. I easily recognized what I thought was a sage, and once it bloomed I was eager to key it out.

The information I have on it so far is that it is considered bitter, acrid, and cool, although sources range from very cold to warm, and one, not surprisingly says it is aromatic, which it definitely….it is a sage after all.

For the sake of brevity I will just list the functions and indications listed in the Great Dictionary of Chinese Medicinals (中药大辞典).

Functions: Clears heat and resolves toxin, cools the blood and scatters [blood] stasis, frees water and disperses swelling.

Indications: exterior attacks with heat effusion [fever], painful and swollen throat, lung heat with cough, coughing blood, spitting blood, blood in the urine, flooding and leaking [excessive menstruation], bleeding sores, kidney inflammation with water swelling, white turbidity, malaria, toxic abscesses and sores, itchy eczema, injury do to external trauma, snake and insect bites.

Dosage: 9-30g in decoction, 15-60g when used fresh, also fresh juice is used. Also used externally as a poultice and fresh juice application.

I don’t have a lot available, but, of course, I made some tincture. The herb has a clear sage scent that is similar to many other sages I have smelled, but doesn’t stick out as being particularly like any of them. It is slightly citrus, with a bit of an edge, and a deep woody/earthy finish. I wouldn’t say it is as aromatic as a good garden sage, white sage, or black sage, but never the less it seems obviously to be useful in medicine. I am also going to make a little vinegar with it an explore cooking with it.

I have only employed it once so far for my son who frequently complains of a sore throat (he likes to yell a lot and doesn’t drink as much water as he should, but then he is 13 yo, so what do you expect). He also said he had a bit of a headache. I gave him 3 droppers of the fresh plant tincture in a bit of water, and he reported 30 minutes later that the headache was gone and the sore throat was 70-80% better. Not bad for a first run!

California Poppy / Eschscholtzia californica

thomas — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:21:08 +0000

California Poppy: A Clinical Perspective by Benjamin Zappin

California Poppy (Eschscholtzia californica) is a plant near and dear to the hearts of SIBM and to any herbalist who has taken time to establish a relationship with this predictably efficacious medicinal ally. Upon learning of, and experiencing it’s medicinal virtues, it is difficult to observe this plant in the wild or in a garden without feeling its calming effects on the spot.

The purpose of this writing is not to present a comprehensive monograph of California Poppy (this will be done is the second half of our Integrating Western Herbs into Chinese Medicine: Materia Medica series), but to highlight a few applications that are worth integrating into one’s personal herbal exploration and into one’s clinical practice. I also aim to give some contrasting perspectives on dosing as there are many ways of viewing one plant as an individual herb or part of a developed system of herbal application.

A favorite illustrative experience for me with this plant happened to me one day sitting in bumper to bumper traffic feeling urgent about getting to somewhere that seemed important to me at the time. My mind started racing with vitriolic rage at the drivers who were obstructing me from my destination and as a reflex (read oral fixation) I reached for the 1 oz tincture bottle by the gear shift and took a mere few drops of whatever it was. A few minutes later I caught myself aware that my frame of mind was profoundly serene, noticing the pleasant weather, and singing along to the radio without having to turn it up to drown my thoughts. This showed me that this herb can be very effective at lower drop doses, which I always welcome as it challenges my “more is better” perspective/complex. I continue to recommend this herb in low doses to people with repeated success in addressing agitated, irascible states of mind and find it a profound tool for effecting shifts, often in just the right moment, thus coining it a favorite ‘road rage’ herb.

Another common application for me is to employ California Poppy either as a single herb or in formula for children. Extracted in glycerin, the bitterness becomes tolerable and this simple and safe herb predictably relaxes tension and quiets mental agitation while facilitating restful sleep. For irritability and difficulty focusing I combine it with Lemon Balm (Melissa officianalis) and Catnip (Nepeta cataria) and will increase the dosage in combination with the same herbs to help a child sleep, and it is to be considered in cases where nightmares or frightfulness ensue as well as scenarios where the nervous system is agitated due to too much stimuli. I usually start with a dropper of the glycerin tincture of these herbs to substantial effect. From an energetic perspective, this is utilizing the bitter, slightly acrid, and cooling nature to clear heat from the heart and quiet the spirit. This can also be employed in liver-gallbladder constraint scenarios where the heat ascends and creates heart vexation. The bitterness drains fire from the heart and liver and the acridity resolves liver-gallbladder constraint.

While my leaning is to spare my patients the intensely bitter flavor of this herb, it does make for a very useful decoction and is of great utility in remedying painful conditions such as menstrual pain, colic, toothache, stomach pain, and also pain from traumatic injury. California Poppy can provide substantial analgesia when applied to such conditions in doses of 4-12 g of the dried herb. I will also simmer a similar amount of the fresh root and/or seed pod for 10 minutes as I am more likely to recognize the fresh herb as what a condition needs and I rarely stock it dried. Consider such an application the next time someone you know takes a fall while you are waiting for the arnica to bring down the swelling. Also, consider giving California Poppy to your next patient who complains that the menstrual formula that they didn’t take very consistently wasn’t helping enough. The analgesic effects of the herb will meet their immediate needs and the bitterness will remind them to follow through with a consistent protocol around their cycle!