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| Latin: |
Radix Stellariae |
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| Origin: |
Starwort root is the root of the perennial plant Stellaria dichotoma L. var. lanceolata Bunge, of the Caryophyllaceae family. Native to east Asia, the plant is grown in China and Siberia. In China, starwort is grown in the northwestern part and Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, etc.
The perennial grows to about 0.3 m high. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by insects. The plant can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.
Reaped after autumn, the root is dried in the sun, sliced and used when raw. |
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| Properties: |
| Sweet in flavor, slightly cold in nature, it is related to the liver and stomach channels. |
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| Functions: |
Alleviates fever of deficiency type and relieves infantile malnutrition with fever.
It is used in the treatment of fever and malaria, night sweats, infantile malnutrition. |
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| Applications: |
1. To treat fever due to yin deficiency, night sweat, hectic or tidal fever, etc.:
Use it with Chinese wolfberry root-bark (Cortex Lycii Radicis), sweet wormwood (Herba Artemisiae Chinghao) and turtle shell, e.g., Qinggu San.
2. To treat infantile malnutrition with fever:
Use it with such herbs as chicken gizzard membranes, Rangoon creeper fruit (Fructus Quisqualis) and dangshen (Radix Codonopsis Pilosulae), etc., in order to jointly achieve the effects of eliminating stagnant food and destroying intestinal worms as well as reinforcing the spleen and relieving infantile malnutrition. |
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| Dosage and Administration: |
3-10 g.
Decoct the herb and the other ingredients for drinking. |
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| Cautions on Use: |
It should be avoided by those suffering from affection by exopathogenic wind-cold or by anyone deficient in blood without fever.
Although no mention has been seen for this species, the leaves of some members of this genus contain saponins. Although toxic, these substances are very poorly absorbed by the body and so tend to pass through without causing harm. They are also broken down by thorough cooking.
Saponins are found in many plants, including several that are often used for food, such as certain beans. It is advisible not to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes, etc., in order to stupefy or kill the fish. |
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| Reference Materials: |
Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica : "Consumptive disease with steaming sensation in the skin, hectic or consumptive fever, heat coming out of the marrow and infantile malnutrition involving the heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney channels with emaciation fever."
Original Meanings of Materia Medica : "It can relieve fever but it is not so bitter as to be purgative. It can regulate yin but it is not so ascendant. Therefore it is a fine herb for the treatment of fever of the deficiency type." |
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| Toxic or Side Effects: |
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| Modern Researches: |
Starwort root contains saponins and it can reduce cholesterol.
The root is anti-cholesterolemic, depurative (purifying blood), and febriguge (removes fever). |
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