Di Gu Pi - 地骨皮 - Cortex Lycii - Lyceum Bark
| Pharmaceutical Latin: | Cortex Lycii |
| Common English: | Barbary Wolfberry Root Bark Chinese Wolfberry Root Bark Lyceum Bark Wolfberry Root Cortex |
Category
Herbs that Clear Heat: Herbs that Clear Heat from DeficiencyProperties
| Taste | Temperature | Entering Meridians | Dosage |
| Sweet Bland (Astringent) | Cold | Lung Liver Kidney | 6-15g Tincture: 2-5ml |
Actions And Indications
| Actions | Indications/Syndromes |
Cools the Blood and drains Yin Deficiency Fire (steaming bones) - (drains Kidney Fire, eliminates lurking Heat, and clears Heat from the bones) | Yin Deficiency with Empty Fire Rising (Kidney Fire) with night sweats, steaming bone disorder with sweating, tuberculosis, chronic low-grade fever, irritability and thirst Toothache from Floating Fire in the Kidney channel |
Clears and drains Heat in the Lung | Lung Heat cough or wheezing (asthma) |
Clears Heat, cools the Blood and stops bleeding | Various bleeding disorders characterized by Heat in the Blood, hematemesis, epistaxis, hematuria |
Contraindications, Incompatibilities And Herb/Drug Interactions
| CONTRAINDICATIONS |
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| INCOMPATIBILITIES |
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| HERB/DRUG INTERACTIONS |
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Major Combinations
| Rx. Stellariae | Rx. Stellariae | Cx. Moutan |
Blood Deficiency, steaming bone disorder or other types of recurrent afternoon fever. | Increases the effectiveness of the previous combination. | Hematemesis, epistaxis, purpuric rashes, and menstrual disorders due to Blood Deficient steaming bone disorder. Suppurative swellings. |
| Rx. Rehmanniae | Cx. Mori | Alumen |
Wasting and thirsting disorder with copious urination. | Lung Heat coughing or wheezing. | External wash for genital itching. |
| Alumen | Rz. Anemarrhenae | Rz. Imperatae |
Increases the effectiveness of the previous combination. | Blood Heat with Yin Deficiency. Infantile malnutrition with Heat sensations. | Lung Heat bleeding with Yin Deficiency. |
Cx. Mori | Rx. Scutellariae | Rz. Anemarrhenae |
Lung Heat with dyspnea or hemoptysis. | Blood Deficiency, Steaming Bone Disorder or other recurrent afternoon fevers. | Increases the effectiveness of the previous combination. |
Cx. Moutan | Rz. Anemarrhenae | Rx. Saposhnikoviae |
Steaming bone disorder with and without sweating. | Steaming bone sensation with tidal fever and night sweats caused by Yin Deficiency and Heat. | Fever, irritability and steaming bone sensation due to Heat in the muscles and bones. |
Rz. Phragmitis | Anemarrhenae, Phellodendron and Rehmanniae Pill | Rx. et Rz. Rhei |
Wasting and thirsting with constant thirst and water ingestion. | Toothache. | Constipation. |
Rz. Imperatae | Fr. Lycii | Rx. Ophiopogonis |
Hematemesis and epistaxis due to Heat in the Blood. | As a powder for hematuria. | Cough with Blood-streaked sputum. |
Notes
- It resembles North American wild cherry bark.
- It clears Heat in the Blood, whether that Heat is of Excess or Deficiency origin.
- Indicated for steaming bones with sweating, hemoptysis and epistaxis, this herb also clears Kidney Heat. It eases both bowel movements and urination and addresses bleeding from Heat seen in the stool and urine. Cough from Heat in the Lungs is also relieved.
- It is reputed to treat Cold in the Lungs combined with Heat in the Heart.
- There are also reports of its use for high blood pressure.
- Di Gu Pi and Hb. Artemisiae Annuae Qing Hao both clear Heat, cool the Blood and address steaming bone disorder. Di Gu Pi is sweet, bland and slightly cold; acting on the Lungs, Liver and Kidneys, it treats Yin Deficiency Heat with steaming bone disorder accompanied by sweating, as well as wasting and thirsting disease. Qing Hao is bitter and cold, clearing Heat from the Liver and Gallbladder and from the Yin and Blood levels. It vents latent, lurking Heat and resolves Summerheat and malarial disorders, and it is used for steaming bone disorder without sweating.
- Di Gu Pi and Cx. Mori Sang Bai Pi both clear Heat, though each works on a different part of the body. Di Gu Pi sedates Lung Fire and clears Heat from the Blood, while Sang Bai Pi clears Lung Heat and sedates Fire at the Qi level. Because of these differences, combining them clears Heat from both the Qi and Blood levels.
From Class
- Mu Dan Pi / Chi Shao / Di Gu Pi / Sheng Di / Xuan Shen / Shi Hu: Bitter-cold blood-cooling herbs; Mu Dan Pi and Chi Shao go to the pericardium. (Gioioso)
- Xiao ke (wasting-thirst) herb groups: Xiao ke herbs: qi tonics (Huang Jing), blood tonics (He Shou Wu, Gou Qi Zi, Shu Di), yin tonics (Yu Zhu), and heat-clearers (Tian Hua Fen, Di Gu Pi, Zhi Mu). (Rabinowitz)
- 'Dr. Lee's hyperimmune formula' — a divergent-channel herbal strategy: Three yellows (Huang Lian, Huang Qin, Huang Bai) clear all three burners, Cang Zhu brings it to the joints, and Qing Hao, Zhi Mu, Di Gu Pi clear deficiency heat. (Rabinowitz)