Pinyin: Gang Mei Gen / Wan Dian Jin  Chinese: 崗梅根 / 萬點金
Pharmaceutical: Radix Ilicis asprellae
Taxonomy: Ilex asprella
English: Chinese Holly Root

Tastes: Bland, Cool
Meridians Entered: Lung

Actions & Indications:

1. Regulates and Tonifies Lung Qi
   Chest obstruction, labored breathing
   Chest congestion with feeble cough, low voice, fatigue
   Lung infection
2. Clears Heat and eliminates Toxins
   breast abscess
3. Regulates Qi and promotes diuresis
   Gout
   Oedema

Standard Dosage: 3-15g in decoction.

Pinyin: San Cha Ku  Chinese: 三叉苦
Pharmaceutical: Herba Evodiae letpae
Taxonomy: Evodia lepta
English: Evodia

Tastes: Bitter, Cold
Meridians Entered: Lung

Actions & Indications:

1. Clear Heat and resolve Toxicity
   Common Cold, fever, tonsillitis, laryngitis
   Epidemic influenza, sore throat
2. Heal inflammation, relieve pain.
   Epidemic encephalomyelitis, encephalitis B
   Meningitis, infectious hepatitis
   Rheumatoid arthritis pain
   Traumatic injuries
3. Alleviates itching.
   Chicken pox, hemorrhoids.
   External use for swelling and itch

Standard Dosage: 9-15g in decoction.

Pinyin: Ye Ju Hua  Chinese: 野菊花
Pharmaceutical: Flos Chrysanthemi Indici
English: Wild Chrysanthemum Flower

Tastes: Bitter, pungent, slightly cold
Meridians Entered: Liver, Lung and Heart

Actions & Indications:

1. Drains Fire and resolves toxicity
   Fire toxicity with sore, swollen throat
   Furuncles, carbuncles and sores (Chuang Yung)
   Liver-Wind Fire causing red eyes
   As an external wash for itching

Standard Dosage: 10-15g in decoction.

Pinyin: Huang Jing  Chinese: 黄精
Pharmaceutical: Rhizoma Polygonati
Taxonomy: Polygonatum sibiricum seu kinganum seu cyrtonema
English: Solomon's Seal Root / Tai Yang Cao

Tastes: Sweet, neutral to warm
Meridians Entered: Spleen, Lung and Kidney

Actions & Indications:

1. Tonifies Spleen Qi and nurtures Stomach Yin
   Spleen and Stomach Qi Deficiency with lassitude, fatigue, loss of appetite and poor mental focus
   Stomach Yin Deficiency with a dry mouth, loss of appetite, loss of taste, dry stools and abdominal distention due to Qi Stagnation
   Used to be used during times of famine as a source of nutrition and appetite suppressant
2. Moistens Lung Yin
   Lung Qi and Yin Deficiency with a dry cough, little sputum, and cough due to consumption
   Any type of cough where Dryness is significant
3. Tonifies the Kidney Blood and Yin, strengthens Jing and relieves wasting and thirsting
   Kidney Yin and Jing Deficiency with lower back pain, light-headedness, weakness of the lower extremities and memory loss
   Often used as a less cloying alternative to Shu Di Huang as it tonifies Kidney Yin and Spleen Qi
   Wasting and thirsting disorder, can be used for both weight gain in the malnourished and to stabilise blood sugars in the obese. Irregular heart rhythms, elevated cholesterol or low immunity (low WBC) due to Blood deficiency
   Developmental issues in children
4. Kills Parasites and calms the spirit
   One of the chief spirit calming herbs for Gu Sydnrome considered by Hua Tuo as both an energy tonic with a calming influence on meditation and as an anti-parasitic herb (Fruehauf, 1998)
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)

Standard Dosage: 10-15g in decoction.
Cautions: It should be used with cautions for dampness accumulation due to spleen deficiency, damp-phlegm stagnation and distending abdomen due to qi stagnation because of sticky and greasy properties.

Pinyin: Ban Lan Gen  Chinese: 板蓝根
Pharmaceutical: Radix Isatidis
English: Indigo Woad Root

Tastes: Bitter, cold
Meridians Entered: Lung, Stomach, Heart and Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Drains Heat, relieves Fire toxicity, cools the Blood and benefits the throat
   Warm febrile disease Epidemic disorders Seasonal toxic pathogens such as mumps, and painful, swollen throat conditions Damp-Heat jaundice Gallbladder Heat Blood Heat

Standard Dosage: 15-30g in decoction.

Pinyin: Jin Yin Hua  Chinese: 金银花
Pharmaceutical: Flos Lonicerae japonicae
Taxonomy: Lonicera japonica
English: Honeysuckle Flower

Tastes: Pungent, slightly bitter, cold
Meridians Entered: Lung, heart, stomach and large intestine

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Heat and resolves Fire Toxicity
   Hot, painful sores and skin eruptions in various stages of development, especially breast, throat and eyes
   Intestinal abscesses
2. Vents and disperses External Wind-Heat
   Early-Stage Wind-Heat Warm-Heat pathogen with fever, chills, slight aversion to Wind, sore throat and headache
   External Summerheat
3. Clears Damp-Heat from the Lower Jiao
   Damp-Heat in the Lower Jiao with dysentery or Lin Syndrome
4. Cools the Blood and stops bleeding (charred)
   Blood Heat dysentery
5. Releases the Exterior and Drives Out Snakes
   Gu Sydnrome (Fruehauf, 1998)
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
   Mysterious bruises due to Ghost Strike (鬼擊) (Wilcox, 2024)

Standard Dosage: 6-30g in decoction. Small doses are for expelling Wind-Heat, large doses for Toxic Heat sores. Can be up to 90g in extreme cases (e.g. Si Miao Yong An Tang).