Xuan Fu Hua - 旋覆花 - Flos Inulae - Inula Flower

Pharmaceutical Latin:	Flos Inulae
Common English:	Inula Flower Japanese Elecampane Flower

Category

Herbs that Transform Phlegm and Stop Coughing: Warm Herbs that Transform Cold Phlegm

Properties

Taste	Temperature	Entering Meridians	Dosage
Bitter Acrid Salty	Slightly Warm (Warm)	Liver Lung Stomach Spleen (Large Intestine)	3-12g Tincture: 2-4ml 3-9g (Secondary source)

Actions And Indications

Actions	Indications/Syndromes
Expels Phlegm and removes pathogenic water (Resolves Phlegm Stagnation in the Lungs)	Phlegm Accumulation in the Lungs with Qi Rebellion Accumulation of Phlegm and thin mucus Best for Cold disorders but in combination with the appropriate herbs can be used for Hot disorders Phlegm-Damp
Descends Qi and stops vomiting (Calms rebellious Stomach Qi)	Vomiting, hiccup and belching

Contraindications, Incompatibilities And Herb/Drug Interactions

Major Combinations

Rz. Pinelliae Preparatum Zhi Ban Xia Hb. Asari Xi Xin Or Rz. Pinelliae Preparatum Zhi Ban Xia Sm. Armeniacae Xing Ren	Os Pumex Fu Shi	Rx. Platycodi Jie Geng Cx. Mori Sang Bai Pi Rx. Scutellariae Huang Qin Rx. et Rz. Rhei Da Huan
Coughing and wheezing due to Cold and Phlegm attacking the Lungs.	Cough with viscous difficult-to-expectorate sputum and sensations of tightness in the chest due to Phlegm-Heat.	Coughing and wheezing due to Phlegm-Heat.
Rz. Pinelliae Preparatum Zhi Ban Xia	Haematitum Dai Zhe Shi Rx. Ginseng Ren Shen Rz. Pinelliae Preparatum Zhi Ban Xia	Rz. Coptidis Huang Lian Caulis Bambusae in Taeniam Zhu Ru
Vomiting, coughing, wheezing and epigastric distention due to congested fluids.	Vomiting, hiccup or non-stop belching due to Spleen and Stomach Deficiency Cold along with accumulation of turbid Phlegm.	Vomiting due to Stomach Heat.
Rx. Aucklandiae Mu Xiang Massa Medicata Fermentata Shen Qu Rz. Atractylodis Macrocephalae Bai Zhu	Rz. Zingiberis Recens Sheng Jiang Rz. Pinelliae Preparatum Zhi Ban Xia Rx. Ephedrae Ma Huang
Epigastric distention, indigestion and belching.	Accumulation of Phlegm with Exterior conditions.

Notes

1. It is used for dyspnea, asthma, hiccups, vomiting and belching.
2. According to some sources, it resolves swellings and hardness and (Invigorates Blood).
3. Honey-frying tempers its warmth and keeps it from injuring Qi or Yin.
4. One source states that it treats Spleen and Stomach Qi Deficiency.
5. Hb. Inulae Jin Fei Cao is the aerial part of the same plant. Salty, slightly bitter and warm, it transforms Phlegm and stops cough, and it addresses more superficial problems than Xuan Fu Hua.
6. Its main use is for reflux of Stomach Qi.
7. It descends rebellious Qi, disperses Phlegm, transforms thin mucus, relieves epigastric obstruction, harmonizes the Stomach, settles nausea and drains the Lungs.
8. Before drinking, wrap the herb in cheesecloth so the thorn in the flower is not swallowed.
9. Xuan Fu Hua and Rz. Pinelliae Preparatum Zhi Ban Xia both disperse clumped Phlegm, settle the Stomach and stop vomiting. Zhi Ban Xia mainly dries Dampness to transform Phlegm and is ideal for profuse, thin, clear Phlegm that is easily coughed up. Xuan Fu Hua descends rebellious Qi, breaks up clumped accumulation and promotes the movement of pathogenic water; it is better suited to thick, viscous Phlegm that is hard to expectorate, to flank pain with distention and a feeling of fullness in the chest and abdomen from accumulated water and thin mucus, or to Middle Jiao Qi Deficiency in which water and Dampness build up in the Spleen and Stomach and cause nausea.
10. Xuan Fu Hua and Pumex Fu Shi are both salty and can therefore soften hardened Phlegm; they are frequently combined for clumped, viscous sputum that is hard to expectorate. Xuan Fu Hua is warm, bitter and acrid, guiding Qi downward to treat cough, wheezing and nausea. Fu Hai Shi is cold and works better for hot, viscous Phlegm or for Lung Heat injuring the collaterals and causing hemoptysis.
11. Xuan Fu Hua and Haematitum Dai Zhe Shi both descend rebellious Lung and Stomach Qi to stop nausea, vomiting and wheezing. It also sedates Liver Yang, cools the Blood and stops bleeding. Dai Zhe Shi relies on its heaviness to sink rebellious Qi and on its bitter Coldness to cool Liver Fire. Xuan Fu Hua relies on its saltiness to soften hardened areas of clumped Phlegm, which its warm acridity then disperses and its bitterness descends. It is most suitable when clumped Phlegm blocks the ascending and descending movement of Qi, causing nausea, vomiting and wheezing.
12. Honey-prepared Inula Flower Mi Zhi Xuan Fu Hua is less acrid and bitter and less warming, drying and descending, so that it can descend Qi without harming it and descend Phlegm without harming the Yin. It suits patients with Lung Qi or Yin Deficiency who have cough, wheezing and Phlegm or thin mucus.
13. Inula Stalks Xuan Fu Geng act much like the flowers and are used mainly for cough, wheezing and rebellious Qi from Cold-Phlegm obstruction, and for nausea, vomiting and belching from Internal pathogenic water and Dampness.
14. It is said that Xuan Fu Hua and Rz. Cyperi Xiang Fu work best for hypochondriac pain on the right side, while Fr. Toosendan Chuan Lian Zi and Rz. Corydalis Yan Hu Suo work best for hypochondriac pain on the left side.