INDIVIDUAL HERBS

Pharmaceutical Latin:	Rhizoma Belamcandae
Common English:	Belamcanda Rhizome Blackberry Lily Rhizome

Taste	Temperature	Entering Meridians	Dosage
Bitter	Cold (Toxic)	Lung (Liver)	1.5-10g

Actions

Indications/Syndromes

Clears Heat, relieves Fire toxicity and improves the throat

Swollen, painful throat due to Fire Excess, Fire toxin or Phlegm-Heat obstruction

Can be used alone for sore throat

Transforms Phlegm, clears the Lungs and eliminates wheezing

Cough and wheezing with Phlegm obstruction, Lung-Heat asthma

Combined with warming herbs for Phlegm Obstruction due to Cold-Phlegm

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Contraindicated for those with loose stools or diarrhea due to Spleen Deficiency Cold.
Do not use for an extended period of time.
Contraindicated during pregnancy.

INCOMPATIBILITIES

HERB/DRUG INTERACTIONS

Rx. Scutellariae Huang Qin	Rx. Scutellariae Huang Qin Rx. Platycodi Jie Geng	Rx. Sophorae Tonkinensis Shan Dou Gen
Sore throat and coughing due to Lung Heat.	Pain and swelling of the throat with hoarseness due to Fire Excess.	Phlegm-Heat in the throat with a swollen, sore throat and Phlegm that is difficult to expectorate.
Flos Lonicerae Jin Yin Hua Lasiosphere/Calvatia Ma Bo	Lasiosphere/Calvatia Ma Bo Rz. Cimicifugae Sheng Ma Rx. Scrophulariae Xuan Shen	Sm. Armeniacae Xing Ren Rx. Platycodi Jie Geng
Throat Bi.	Fire toxin affecting the throat.	Cough, pain and swelling of the throat with difficulty expectorating due to Lung Heat.
Hb. Ephedrae Ma Huang Rx. Asari Xi Xin Rz. Zingiberis Recens Sheng Jiang	Rx. Scutellariae Huang Qin Rx. Platycodi Jie Geng Rx. Glycyrrhizae Gan Cao	Cx. Mori Sang Bai Pi Rx. Platycodi Jie Geng
Wind-Cold asthma with constriction of the chest as a result of Phlegm.	Sore throat with profuse Phlegm.	Dyspnea and cough with profuse yellow sputum.
Hb Asari Xi Xin Rz. Pinelliae Preparatum Zhi Ban Xia Rz. Zingiberis Recens Sheng Jiang
Dyspnea and cough with profuse white or clear sputum.

Some sources say that this herb descends Qi and disperses Blood.
It is used externally as a wash with a little salt to treat field dermatitis.
Both She Gan and Lasiosphere/Calvatia Ma Bo clear Heat, benefit the throat, resolve toxicity, disperse clumped heat and are frequently used for swelling and pain of the throat. She Gan is bitter, cold, descends pathogenic Heat and transforms Phlegm. Ma Bo is lightweight and dispersing, acrid neutral, focuses on the Lungs and the Blood to treat epistaxis and treats swelling and pain of the throat due to Wind-Heat.
Dry-fried Belamcanda Chao She Gan is less cold and bitter and is appropriate for deficient patients who have a sore, swollen throat.
She Gan and Rx. Sophorae Tonkinensis Shan Dou Gen have similar actions of clearing Heat. She Gan is stronger at dispelling Phlegm and dispersing Stagnation, while Shan Dou Gen is stronger at sedating Fire.