Pinyin: Pu Gong Ying  Chinese: 蒲公英
Pharmaceutical: Herba Taraxaci
Taxonomy: Taraxacum mongolicum seu officinalis
English: Dandelion

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

Actions & Indications:

1. Reduces abscesses and dissipates nodules
   Internal abscesses and external sores particularly if they are firm and hard, especially breast and intestinal abscess, Chuang Yung (internally and topically)
2. Clears the Liver and clears the eyes
   Eye redness and swelling (alone as a steam)
   Liver Heat, cirrhosis
3. Clears Heat, resolves Dampness and unblocks painful urinary dysfunction
   Damp-Heat painful urinary dysfunction
   Damp-Heat jaundice
4. Relieves Fire toxicity
   Fire toxicity , swollen, painful throat, upper respiratory tract infection
5. Promotes lactation
   Insufficient lactation due to Heat
6. Clears Heat in the Blood
   Congested Fire of the Spleen and Stomach

Standard Dosage: 10-30g in decoction.
Cautions: Overdosage may cause loose bowel or excessive urination. Concurrent use with quinolone antibiotics such as Ciprofloxacin may influence the bioavailability and disposition of the quinolone antibiotics.

Pinyin: Xia Ku Cao  Chinese: 夏枯草
Pharmaceutical: Spica Prunellae
Taxonomy: Prunella vulgaris
English: Self-heal Spike / All-Heal Spike

Tastes: Bitter and pungent
Meridians Entered: Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Liver Fire and brightens the eyes
   Liver Fire with red, painful or swollen eyes or headache and dizziness
   Eye pain which is worse in the evening due to Liver Yin Deficiency, especially when the eyes are neither red nor swollen
2. Clears Hot Phlegm and dissipates nodules
   Any neck lumps or nodules due to Phlegm-Fire such as scrofula, lipoma, carbuncle, swollen glands or goiter
3. Treats hypertension
   Hypertension due to Liver Fire or Liver Yang Rising

Standard Dosage: 10-15g 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).

Pinyin: Chi Shao  Chinese: 赤芍
Pharmaceutical: Radix Paeoniae Rubra
Taxonomy: Paeonia lactiflora seu veitchii
English: Red Peony Root

Tastes: Bitter, pungent, light cold
Meridians Entered: Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Heat and cools the Blood
   Xue Stage Heat Stage Heat or Blood Heat with fever, a purple tongue, maculae, hemorrhage and Blood Heat gynecological problems
2. Clears Liver Fire and relieves eye pain
   Liver Fire with redness, swelling and pain of the eyes
3. Reduces swelling from sores and abscesses
   Early stage abscesses and boils

Standard Dosage: 6-12g in decoction.
Cautions: It is antagonistic to Li Lu. It should be used with caution in hot skin conditions where it may aggravate by "fanning the flames". Caution with anticoagulants as it may slow clotting time. May also slow the absorption of phenytoin.

Pinyin: Liu Ji Nu  Chinese: 劉寄奴
Pharmaceutical: Herba Artemisiae Anomalae
Taxonomy: Artemisia Anomala
English: Anomalous Artemisia

Tastes: Bitter, warm
Meridians Entered: Heart and Spleen

Actions & Indications:

1. Dispels Blood Stasis, unblocks menstruation and alleviates pain
   Amenorrhea or postpartum abdominal pain due to Blood Stasis
   Falls, fractures, contusions and sprains
2. Reduces Food Stagnation and transforms accumulations
   Abdominal pain due to accumulation from Food Stagnation
3. Topically as a powder for contusion, burns and bleeding wounds
   Contusion, burns and bleeding wounds

Standard Dosage: 5-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It is contraindicated for qi and blood deficiency and spleen deficiency with diarrhea.

Pinyin: Bai Zhi  Chinese: 白芷
Pharmaceutical: Radix Angelicae dahuricae
Taxonomy: Angelica dahurica
English: Dahurian Angelica Root

Tastes: Pungent and warm
Meridians Entered: Lung, Stomach and Large Intestine

Actions & Indications:

1. Expels Wind, eliminates Dampness, unblocks the nasal passages, dispels Cold and alleviates pain
   External Wind-Cold patterns, especially with headache
   Supra orbital pain, nasal congestion and toothache, arthritis
   Any External Wind invasion of the Yangming channels of the head with a frontal headache
2. Reduces swelling, eliminates toxins and expels pus
   Early-stage superficial sores, boils and carbuncles, pruritis
3. Expels Dampness, alleviates discharge and treats leukorrhea and diarrhoea
   Vaginal discharge due to Cold-Dampness in the Lower Jiao
4. Releases the Exterior and Drives Out Snakes
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
   One of the chief herbs for treating Gu Syndrome, along with Bo He and Zi Su Ye, classed as "open the exterior with snake killing herbs" (Fruehauf, 1998).
   Also used topically for fungal infections which may explain some of its anti-Gu actions.

Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It should be used with cautions for Blood Heat induced by Yin deficiency because of its pungent, fragrant, warm, dry property.