Dahurian Angelica Root (Baizhi)

Dahurian Angelica Root (Baizhi)

Pharmaceutical Name: Radix Angelicae Dahuricae
Botanical Name: Angelica dahurica (Fisch. Ex Hoffm.) Benth. et Hook. f.;
Angelica dauburica (Fisch. ex Hoffm.) Benth. et Hook. f. var. formosana (Boiss.) Shan et Yuan
Common Name:Dahurian Angelica root
Source of Earliest Record: Shennong Bencao Jing
art Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations: The root is dug in the period between summer and autumn, when the leaves turn yellow. The fibrous roots are removed, dried, soaked in water and cut into slices.
Properties and Taste: Pungent and warm
Meridian: Lung and spleen
Functions: To expel wind and release the exterior
To reduce swelling and discharge pus and dampness
To stop pain
Indications and Combinations: 1. Wind-cold exterior syndrome manifested by headache, supraobital pain and nasal obstruction.
*Use with Chinese green onion (Congbai), Prepared soybean (Douchi) and Fresh ginger (Shengjiang).

2. Thick and sticky nasal discharge (as in thinitis, nasosinusitis).
*Use with Xanthium fruit (Cang’erzi) and Magnolia flower (Xinyi) in the formula Cang’er San.

3. Boils, carbuncles, ulceration and skin diseases.
*Use with Trichosanthes fruit (Gualou), Tendrilled fritillary bulb (Chuanbeimu) and Dandelion herb (Pugongying).

4. Damp-cold type of leukorrhea manifested as watery, whitish and profuse leukorrhea with no offensive smell.
*Use with White atractylodes (Baizhu), Cuttlefish bone (Wuzeigu) and Poria (Fuling).

5. Damp-heat type of leukorrhea manifested by thick, yellow and profuse leukorrhea with offensive smell.
*Use with Phellodendron bark (Huangbai), Plantain seed (Cheqianzi) and Flavescent sophora root (Kushen).
Dosage: 3-10 g
Cautions: This herb is contraindicated in yin deficiency.