Bei Sha Shen: Chinese Herb Guide

Name

Bei Sha Shen (Radix Glehniae), from Hui Yan Ben Cao (Collection of Materia Medica)

Source and quality

The root of the perennial herbaceous plant Glehnia littoralis Fr. Schmidt ex Miq. of the family Umbelliferae. It is cultivated in most areas of China, and is plucked in summer and autumn.

It has a slight odor and is slightly sweet. The best grade is even and coarse, with the plug skin removed and a white-yellow color. It is used unprocessed.

Nature and action

Sweet and slightly cold. It enters the lung and stomach meridians.

It nourishes the yin of the lung and stomach and clears heat from the lung and stomach.

Indications

Lung yin deficiency syndromes

It nourishes lung yin and clears lung heat.

• For dry cough with scanty sputum, blood in the sputum, dryness of the throat and hoarseness due to lung yin deficiency with dryness-heat in the lung, it is combined with herbs that clear the lung and moisten dryness, such as Nan Sha Shen and Zhi Mu in Run Zao Yang Yin Tang from Yi Fang Xin Jie.
• For cough without sputum or with scanty sputum, blood in the sputum, hemoptysis, and bone-steaming and tidal fever due to lung yin deficiency, it is combined with herbs that nourish yin, moisten the lung, relieve cough and clear bone-steaming fever, such as Mai Dong, Zhi Mu, Chuan Bei Mu and Bie Jia.

Stomach yin deficiency syndromes

It is indicated for thirst with much drinking, hunger without appetite, dry stool, a tongue with no coating or a red tongue with little fluid, or stomachache, distension in the stomach and retching, because it nourishes stomach yin to generate fluids and relieve thirst, and clears stomach heat.

It is usually combined with herbs that nourish yin and generate fluids, such as Shi Hu, Yu Zhu and Wu Mei.

Dosage and administration

Decoct 10~15 g.