Dang Gui "Must return" Rx. Angelica Sinensis "Female Ginseng" Umbelliferae
Properties: Slightly sweet, acrid, bitter, warm
Channels: Liver, Spleen, Heart
Functions: Tonifies Blood and regulates menses: PMS, dysmenorrhea, menopause, relieves cramping, aids fertility.
Emmenagague and tonic for blood and hormones.
Invigorates and harmonizes stagnant blood: masses, injury, chronic ulceration
Moistens Intestines: constipation due to blood deficiency
Dosage in decoction: 5-15g
Caution and contraindication: loose stools and diarrhea
Don't use with Warfarin
Comparative Ethnobotany:
Angelica archangelica Used as anti-spasmodic and for menstrual disorders
Angelica atropupurea also used by Cherokee for menstrual disorders.
Native habitat: sea level to mountain area from 5,900-8,000 ft. best in high cold shaded and moist conditions
Asia, No. Europe; damp meadows, riverbanks, river islands, waste ground.
Cultivation:use fresh seed and sow as soon as ripe in rich damp soil, thin seedlings to 1-3 ft apart
need light and moisture to germinate- may take up to 6 months.
Harvest: collect roots at year 2 or 3. dry and smoke root with wet wood.
Biochemistry:butylidenephthalide, ligustilide, butylphthalide, ferulic acid, Vit B12, biotin, nicotinic acid, folic acid, folinic acid, Vitamin E
References:
1. An Illlustrated Guide to Herbs their medicine and magic. Anna Kruger.
Limpsfield and London. London, 1993.
2. Herbal Emissaries bringing Chinese Herbs to the West. Steven Foster and Yue ChongXi. 1992. Healing Arts Press, Rochester, Vermont. pp. 65-72.
3. The Herbal Tarot. 1988. Michael Tierra, Herbalist. Switzerland. U.S. Games Systems, Inc. pp. 7.
4. Lecture and notes from Pharmacopoeia III 1998. Dr. Li Jin,
OMD, pp. 92.
Chinese Pharmacopoeia Index