dan zhu ye

淡竹叶·Herba Lophatheri

Lophatherum

About dan zhu ye

Dan Zhu Ye (淡竹叶) is the leaf and stem of lophatherum, a grass, recorded as Herba Lophatheri. It is sweet and bland in flavour and cold in temperature, entering the Heart, Small Intestine and Stomach channels. The catalogue files it among the herbs that drain Fire.

Names

Pinyin	dan zhu ye
Chinese	淡竹叶·淡竹葉
Latin Name	Herba Lophatheri
English Name	Lophatherum·Lophatherum Stem & Leaves·salvia root
Japanese	tanchikuyo
Korean	damjukyeop

Classification

Category: Drain Fire
Channels: Stomach, Heart, Small Intestine
Flavour: Sweet, Bland
Temperature: Cold
Part used: Leaf, Stem
Family: Gramineae
Species: Lophaterum gracile
Tags: Chinese Herbs, Common

Actions and indications

Clears Heat and relieves irritability

Febrile illness or internal Heat with thirst, a dry mouth, agitation and restlessness
Early Wind-Heat or warm disease, alongside herbs that release the Exterior and nourish Fluids
Sores of the mouth, lips and tongue, and swollen, painful gums, from Heat in the Heart or Stomach

Promotes urination and clears Damp-Heat

Urination that is scanty, rough and painful
Heart Heat passed down to the Small Intestine: dark, scanty, painful urination with irritability and a red tongue tip

Combinations

shi gao
Residual fever once a febrile illness has largely run its course, the chest feeling hot, cold drinks craved, and the tongue red with a thin coat; post-febrile fever that persists with a scanty dry coating, irritability and poor sleep; childhood cough with fever; mouth ulcers and swollen gums from Heart and Stomach Heat
mai men dong + lu gen + tian hua fen
Lung and Stomach invaded by Heat, with thirst and an irritable feeling in the chest
shi gao + zhi mu
Irritability and thirst in febrile disease; Stomach Heat with stomatitis and thirst
mu tong + sheng di huang
Scanty, dark urine, sores on the tongue and mouth, and a hot, irritable sensation in the Stomach and chest, from Heart and Stomach channel Heat
lian zi xin
Tongue ulcers.
mu tong + che qian zi + sheng di huang
Small Intestine Heat causing dysuria

Dosage

Age	Raw	Granule	Tincture	Concentrate	Frequency
Any	6-16 g	—	2-4 ml	—	—

Cautions

pregnancy Use cautiously in pregnancy
contraindication No true Heat signs, such as frequent urination without Heat, or Deficiency Cold of the Spleen and Stomach with loose stools, which its cold, draining nature can aggravate

Interactions

Drug interactions

Diuretics (chlorothiazide, hydrochlorothiazide, furosemide, bumetanide, torsemide): taken together, more water and electrolytes may be lost