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| Latin: |
Herba Lophatheri |
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| Origin: |
Light bamboo leaf is the leaf of the perennial herbaceous vine Lophatherum gracile Brongn., of the Gramineae family. The vine is grown in woodlands or damp places around ditches, and is mainly produced in Zhejiang, Anhui, Hunan, Sichuan, Hubei, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces in China.
Light bamboo plant is about 40-100 cm high, with an upright and hollow stalk, marked by sections. Leaves grow alternately, in broad, needle shape, they are 5-20 cm long, 1.5-3.5 cm wide. Flowering between July-September, fruiting in October.
It is picked and reaped in summer, dried in the sun, cut into sections and used when raw. |
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| Properties: |
Sweet and tasteless in flavor, cold in nature, it is related to the heart, stomach and small intestine channels.
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| Functions: |
| Clears away heat, relieves restlessness and induces diuresis (increased excretion of urine). |
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| Applications: |
1. Used for febrile diseases with excessive thirst:
Being sweet and cold, this herb can clear and purge heat from the heart and relieve thirst and restlessness. It is often used together with gypsum, common reed rhizome, etc., for such ailments as febrile diseases with impairment of body fluids and vexation with thirst.
2. Used for aphthae (roundish pearl-coloured specks or flakes in the mouth, on the lips, etc.) with reddish urine, edema with oliguria (secretion of a diminished amount of urine in relation to the fluid intake) and jaundice with reddish urine:
Being sweet, tasteless in flavor and cold in nature, this herb can clear and purge fire from the heart and eliminate dampness to induce diuresis. It is often used together with rush (Medulla Junci), talcum, cocongrass rhizome (Rhizoma Imperatae), etc., for such ailments as exuberant fire due to hyperactivity of the heart, aphthae, shifting of heat into the small intestine and strangury (painful discharge of urine) due to heat.
As this herb is good at eliminating dampness and purging heat, it can also be used in combination with great burdock achene (Fructus Arctii), oriental water plantain rhizome (Rhizoma Alismatis), motherwort (Herba Leonuri), etc., for the treatment of edema with oliguria and used together with capillary artemisia (Herba Artemisiae Scopariae), skullcap root (Rhizoma Scutellariae), cape jasmine fruit (Fructus Gardeniae) etc., for the treatment of jaundice with reddish urine. |
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| Dosage and Administration: |
6-12 g.
Decoct the ingredients for drinking. |
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| Cautions on Use: |
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| Reference Materials: |
Compendium of Materia Medica : "It relieves dysphoria (excessive pain, anguish, agitation, disquiet, restlessness) with smothering sensation, induces diuresis and clears heat from the heart."
Modern Practical Chinese Materia Medica : "It refreshes the body, reduces fever, induces diuresis, treats febrile diseases with excessive thirst, difficulty and pains in urination, dysphoria with insomnia and gingivitis (inflammation of the gums of mouth)." |
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| Toxic or Side Effects: |
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| Modern Researches: |
Light bamboo leaf has a weaker diuretic effect, but can increase the discharge of chlorides in urine. It can also increase blood sugar.
The bamboo leaves or henon bamboo leaves used in the recipes before the Ming Dynasty were different from this herb - they were the leaves of glaucous bamboo (Phyllostachys glauca) or bitter bamboo (Pleioblastus amarus), plants of the same family. The bamboo leaves are good at clearing heat from the heart and relieving restlessness, while this herb is good at clearing away heat to induce diuresis. |
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