Pei Lan (Fortune Eupatorium Herb)

Name

Pei Lan (Herba Eupatorii), from Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (Shen Nong's Herbal)

Source and quality

The aerial part of Eupatorium fortunei Turcz. of the family Asteraceae. It is produced in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Hebei provinces, and collected in summer and autumn.

It is fragrant and slightly bitter. The best grade is dry, with plenty of leaves, green in color, tender and strongly fragrant.

It is dried in shade or in the sun, and used unprocessed or as the fresh herb.

Nature and action

Pungent and neutral. It enters the spleen, stomach and lung meridians.

It resolves dampness and releases the exterior.

Indications

Damp obstruction of the middle energizer

Because it is fragrant, it is usually combined with Guang Huo Xiang for damp obstruction of the middle energizer, as the two are similar in their actions of resolving dampness and harmonizing the middle energizer. It can also be combined with Cang Zhu, Hou Po and Kou Ren.

It is mild, neither warm nor dry in nature, and is good at clearing damp-heat in the spleen meridian, marked by a sweet and greasy taste in the mouth, profuse saliva and halitosis. It can be decocted on its own, or together with herbs that clear heat and resolve dampness, such as Huang Qin and Yi Yi Ren.

Early-stage summer-damp syndrome and damp-warm syndrome

It is aromatic and its actions are similar to those of Guang Huo Xiang. It can dispel summer-heat from the exterior and resolve damp-turbidity from the interior, but because it is neutral in nature its warming and dispersing actions are mild.

For the early stage of summer-damp syndrome and damp-warm syndrome, marked by chills with fever, headache, fullness in the chest and a greasy tongue coating, it is usually combined with herbs that resolve dampness, clear summer-heat and release the exterior, such as Guang Huo Xiang, Hou Po, He Ye and Bo He.

Dosage and administration

Decoct 5~10 g; double the dose when using the fresh herb.