Zi Zhu紫珠
Folium Calicarpae FormosanaeBeauty-berry Leaf
Also known asCalicarpa Leaf
- Category
- Herbs that Stop Bleeding
- Nature
- cool
- Taste
- bitter, astringent
- Channels entered
- Liver, Lung, Stomach
- Dosage
- 6–20 g
Usual doses
- Dosage
- 6–20 g
- Tincture
- 2–5 ml
Actions & indications
- Retains Blood and stops bleeding
- Internal and External bleeding
- Resolves toxicity and treats burns and sores
- Toxic swellings from burns or sores
- Often used topically
Contraindications
Use with caution in bleeding due to Deficiency-Cold in the lower body.
Combinations
Vomiting of blood, coughing of blood, nosebleed, blood in the urine, and blood in the stool.
Blood in the urine caused by stones.
Applied as a powder to prevent infection and speed healing of first- or second-degree burns.
Notes
- It is regarded as particularly effective for bleeding in the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts.
- It is also said to dispel Blood Stasis and promote skin regeneration.
- Used alone — crushed fresh or as a powder applied topically — it treats bleeding from external injury or persistent bleeding after a tooth extraction.
- Taken alone as a decoction, it addresses burns, sore throat, and eye redness and pain.
- Zi Zhu, Rz. Bletillae Bai Ji and Hb. Agrimoniae Xian He Cao all restrain bleeding, ranked strongest to weakest as Bai Ji, Xian He Cao, then Zi Zhu. For cooling Heat the ranking reverses: Zi Zhu is strongest, followed by Bai Ji, then Xian He Cao.
- Zi Zhu and Rx. Rubiae Qian Cao Gen both cool the Blood and stop bleeding, but Qian Cao Gen also invigorates the Blood and frees the collaterals, making it better suited to bleeding tied to Blood Stasis and Blood Heat, while Zi Zhu is astringent, resolves toxicity, and treats sores.