Botanical name: Achyranthes bidentata, Cyathula capitata (Amaranthaceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Radix Achyranthis

Chinese Name: niu-hsiFrom Shen Nung's Herbal (superior drug)

Constituents: saponin

Properties and actions: neutral, bitter, and acrid to taste. Beneficial to the liver and kidneys; strengthens the muscles and bone structure; promotes menstrual regularity. diuresis, and pus drainage; and resolves bruises.

Indications: amenorrhea, gonorrhea, hematuria, swelling carbuncles, dystocia, stagnant blood, weakness of the liver and kidneys, pain in the waist and knees, and generalized weakness.

Botanical name: Aconitum carmichaeli, A. chinense, A. coreahum, A. sinense, A. sanyonse, A. napellus (Ranunculaceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Radix Aconiti, Radix Aconiti Carmichaeli Praeparata

Chinese Name: ch'uan-wu, tsao-wu, fu-tzu

Constituents: picroaconitine, aconine, aconitic acid, starch, fat, resin, benzoic acid.

Properties and actions: slightly warm; biting to taste. Very toxic. Stimulant, cardiotonic, analgesic, diaphoretic, sedative, alterative, deobstruent, antiarthritic.

Indications: excessive diarrhea, weak pulse, chills, chest and abdominal pain, emphysema, beriberi, adolescent convulsions, fever, nervous disorders, rheumatism, neuralgia, edema, cholera.

Botanical name: Acorus gramineus (Araceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Rhizoma Aeon Graminei

Chinese Name: shih-chang-pu. From Shen Nung's Herbal (superior drug)

Constituents: essential oil, asarone

Properties and actions: warm; pungent. Analgesic, sedative, stomachic, antitoxic, vermifugal.

Indications: mental illness, epilepsy, amnesia, nightmares, diarrhea. Externally applied to carbuncles.

Botanical name: Adenophora tetraphylla, A. stricta, or other of the Adenophora genus (Campanulaceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Radix Adenophorae linese name: nan-sha-shen. From Shen Nung's Herbal

Constituents: saponin

Properties and actions: slightly cold; sweet yet bitter. Nourishes yin and purifies the lungs, resolves phlegm.

Indications: febrile diseases, thirst, dry mouth, internal heat in the lungs, cough, hemoptysis from coughing.

Botanical name: Agastache rugosa (Labiatae)

Pharmaceutical name: Herba Agastachis

Chinese Name: huo-hsiang. From Chiayu pen tsao (1061 A.D.)

Constituents: essential oil

Properties and actions: warm, pleasant yet acrid to taste. Clears fevers, resolves moisture, strengthens the stomach and stops vomiting.

Indications: dyspepsia, vomiting with diarrhea, abdominal pain, chest distention due to gastric disorders, the common cold, and headache.

Botanical name: Akebia quinata (Lardizabalaceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Caulis Mutung

Chinese Name: mu-t'ung

Constituents: akebin, potassium salts

Properties and actions: slightly cold: bitter. Promotes urination, counteracts inflammation and fever, sedates.

Indications: edema, difficult urination, amenorrhea, inadequate lactation.

Botanical name: Alisma orientalis, A. plantagu-aquatica (Alismataceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Rhizoma Alismatis

Chinese Name: "tse-she, tse-hsieh

Constituents: choline. asparagine. phytosterol, biorin, protein, starch, resin

Properties and actions: bitter. Diuretic, aphrodisiac.

Indications: wet fever, edema, vomiting, diarrhea, gonorrhea. wu-lin (five disease conditions involving the urinary tract-kidney stones, polyuria. hernaturia. bladder distention. and chyluria)

Botanical name: Aloe barbadensis, A. ferox (Liliaceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Herba Aloes

Chinese Name: lu-hui

Constituents: barbaloin, isobarbaloin, resin, sicaloin, emodin, cinnamic acid, d-arabinose. Oxydase

Properties and actions: cold; bitter. Anthelmintic, stomachic, laxative.

Indications: children's hernia, epilepsy, constipation. Used externally in conjunction with licorice for eczema.

Botanical name: Pinus succinifcra (Pinaceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Succinum-resinous exudate which has been buried a long time and has turned into a clear, fossil-like substance

Chinese Name: hu-po

Properties and actions: bland, sweet. Tonic and alterative.

Indications: epilepsy, insomnia, gonorrhea, hematuria, cuts, contusions, catarrh of the bowels or bladder, convulsive disorders in children.

Botanical name: Anemarrhena asphodeloides (Liliaceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Rhizoma Aiiemarrhenae

Chinese Name: chih-mu

Constituents: saponin, asphonin, mucilage, pantothenic acid

Properties and actions: antipyretic, mild carminative

Indications: thirst, cough, urinary and bowel disorders.

Botanical name: Anemone altaica (Raiiunculaceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Rhizoma Anemonis Altaicae

Chinese Name: chiu-chich-chang-pu

Constituents: saponins. Protoanernonin

Properties and actions: stomachic, vermifugal. Antitoxic

Indications: fever, diarrhea, nightmares, mental illness, epilepsy. Used externally for carbuncles and scabies.

Botanical name: Angelica dahunca, A. anomala var. pai-chi (Umbelliferae)

Pharmaceutical name: Radix Angelicae Dahuricae

Chinese Name: pai-chih. From The Classic on Mountains and Seas (400 B.C.)

Constituents: small points of resinous or oily secretion inside

Properties and actions: warm-natured, acrid to taste. Clears the inner organs and dispels gas, warms (excessive) hydration and promotes pus drainage.

Indications: common cold, migraine, dizziness, neuralgia, and perspiration.

Botanical name: Illicium verum (Magnoliaceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Fructus Anisi Stellati

Chinese Name: pa-chiao-hui-hsiang

Constituents: essential oil, anethol, caren, methylchavicol, d-pinene, cymol, l-phel-landrene, linnonenes, hydroquinone, cineol, furfurol, safrol, famesol, terpineol, dioxybenzoic acid, anisaldehyde, anisketone.

Properties and actions: warm; pungent and sweet.

Indications: hernia, chilling pain in the chest, abdominal pain, vomiting, anorexia, cholera, beriberi, constipation, lower back pain, atrophy of the bladder.

Botanical name: Prunus armeniaca, P. sibirica, P. mandshurica (Rosaceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Semen Armeniacae

Chinese Name: hsmg-jen

Constituents: amygdalin, hydrocyanic acid

Properties and actions: sour. Antispasmodic, sedative, expectorant.

Indications: sputum, cough, asthma, constipation.

Botanical name: Aquilaria sinensis, A. agallocha (Thymelaeceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Lignum Aquilariae

Chinese Name: chen-hsiang. From Ming i pieh lu

Constituents: essential oil, resin

Properties and actions: slightly warm; pungent, sweet and bitter, aromatic. Nutritive, sedative. Reinforces the kidneys, alleviates pain.

Indications: asthma, vomiting, diarrhea, hiccoughs, cardiac and abdominal pain> chills in the waist and knees.

Botanical name: Biota orientalis (Cupressaceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Semen Biotae@dried, ripe seeds.

Chinese Name: po-tzu-jen. From Shen Nung 's Herbal (superior drug)

Constituents: volatile oils (pinene and caryophyllene), pinipicrin, thujin, tannin, and resin.

Properties and actions: bittersweet, Astringent, expectorant, antitussive, nutritive tonic.

Indications: palpitations, insomnia, amnesia, ephidrosis, nocturnal emissions, constipation, expectoration, bronchitis, asthma, dry stools; a delicate constitution.

Botanical name: Arctium lappa (Compositae)

Pharmaceutical name: Fructus Arctii

Chinese Name: niu-pang-tzu

Constituents: arctiin, arctigenin, gobosterin, essential oil, fatty oil.

Properties and actions: pungent, sweet, mucilaginous, slightly bitter. Diuretic, antipyretic, expectorant, antiphlogistic.

Indications: gout, chills, fever, cough, sore throat, dermatitis, ulcers.

Botanical name: Arisaema consanquineum, A. amurense and other varieties of the Araceae family

Pharmaceutical name: Rhizoma Arisaematis

Chinese Name: tien-nan-hsing. From Shen Nung's Herbal (inferior drug)

Properties and actions: warm, bitter, toxic, Sedative, relieves spasms and pain, loosens mucus, dispels clots, reduces swelling.

Indications: convulsions in children, monoplegia. Externally used for painful swellings.

Botanical name: Aristolochia manshuriensis (Hocquartia manshuriensis)

Pharmaceutical name: Caulis Aristolochiae

Chinese Name: kuan-mu-t'ung

Constituents: aristolochine

Properties and actions: bitter. Antitussive, expectorant.

Indications: asthma, bronchitis

Botanical name: Aristolochia debilis (Aristolochiaceae)

Pharmaceutical name: Fructus Aristolochiae

Chinese Name: ma-tou-ling

Constituents: poisonous alkaloid aristolochine

Properties and actions: slightly cold: bitter and pungent. Antitussive, expectorant Dispels flatus: stimulates ch'i; strengthens the stomach: relieves coughing, asthma and bronchitis.

Indications: flushing up of pulmonary ch'i, cough, gasping, fever in the lungs hemoptysis, hemorrhoids, ascites

Note: Toxic doses caused cardiac and respiratory arrest in experimental animals.

Botanical name: Artemisia vulgaris var. indica (Compositae)

Pharmaceutical name: Folium Artemisiae

Chinese Name: ai-yeh

Constituents: essential oil (cineol and thujone), tannin, resin, adenine, artemisil vitamins A, B1 , B2, C, and D

Properties and actions: slightly warm; bitter, fragrant. Hemostatic, stomachi' Quiets the fetus, dispels gas and "cold."

Indications: abdominal pain, chronic dysentery, hemoptysis. menstrual irregularit' sterility, itching.