Niao Bu Su
StarAralia chinensis L.
Synonyms: Aralia decaisneana Hance, Aralia echinocaulis Hand.-Mazz., Aralia spinifolia Merr., Kalopanax septemlobus (Thunb.) Koidz.
Also known as: Niao Pu Su · Wade–Giles
Safety at a glance
No rule in our tables for this herb: pregnancy, breastfeeding, incompatible pairs (十八反 / 十九畏), herb–drug, dose ceiling. This is not a safety clearance.
Not graded — No toxicity grade is recorded. Most herbs in the catalogue carry none.
Traditionally used for
- Digestion
- Urinary & fluids
- Menstrual & women's health
- Pain & joints
- Skin
- Liver & jaundice
☯ TCM Properties
Dispels Wind, resolves Dampness, disperses swelling and regulates menstruation
Traditional Chinese Uses
Under its corrected identity, Niao Bu Su here is the prickly Araliaceae shrub Aralia chinensis (楤木), whose root and bark are pungent, bitter, and warm, entering chiefly the Liver, Spleen, and Kidney channels. In the wind-damp-dispelling category it expels wind and drains dampness, invigorates the Blood and disperses stasis, and reduces swelling while promoting urination. It is used for wind-damp painful obstruction with rheumatic joint and muscle pain, for traumatic injury with swelling, and for water-retention patterns such as edema and ascites; folk practice also applies it to stomach pain, jaundice and hepatitis, sores, and scrofula, and to regulate menstruation. It is commonly decocted around 15-30 g or steeped in wine. (The record's earlier latin name 'Radix Zanthoxyli' is spurious and does not apply to this plant.)
Western Herbalism Properties
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Botanical Description
Niao Bu Su (literally 'the bird cannot perch') is chiefly derived from Aralia chinensis (Araliaceae), a deciduous shrub or small tree 2-5 m tall of subtropical Chinese mountains, whose stems are densely armed with stout sharp prickles that prevent birds from alighting — the basis of the Chinese name. Leaves are large, alternate and two- to three-pinnately compound, with ovate, serrate, softly pubescent leaflets. The inflorescence is a large terminal panicle of umbels bearing many small whitish five-merous flowers in summer. The fruit is a small black globose drupe about 3 mm across. The root, root bark, pith and stems are used to dispel wind-damp, invigorate the blood, disperse swelling and regulate menstruation.
Forests, thickets and open slopes on mountains, roughly 500-2700 m elevation.
Active Constituents
Araloside A
Oleanane-type triterpenoid saponin (oleanolic acid glycoside)Concentration: Not established for the crude drug. Identified within the total saponin fraction of Aralia chinensis root bark and among the compounds absorbed into rat serum after oral dosing of that fraction.
A principal marker saponin of the total saponin fraction and one of the constituents confirmed to reach the circulation after oral dosing in rats. In a molecular docking and cell study it bound Src, PIK3R1, PIK3CA, STAT3 and EGFR. Note that the better-known antiulcer characterisation of araloside A was carried out on Aralia elata root bark, a related but distinct species, and should not be transferred to this one without comment.
Elatoside L
Oleanane-type triterpenoid saponinConcentration: Not established for the crude drug; detected in the total saponin fraction of the root bark and among the serum-absorbed prototypes in rats
The second of the two saponins that showed strong predicted binding to the Src and PI3K axis targets in the only substantive experimental study on this species. Its activity has not been tested as an isolated compound.
Ginsenoside Ro
Oleanane-type triterpenoid saponinConcentration: Not established for the crude drug; detected in the root bark total saponin fraction
An oleanolic acid glycoside shared with Panax species, whose presence reflects the position of Aralia within the Araliaceae. Its occurrence here is a chemotaxonomic observation rather than a demonstrated pharmacological contribution to this drug.
Oleanolic acid
Pentacyclic triterpene (saponin aglycone)Concentration: Not established for the crude drug; present as a free triterpene and as the aglycone of most of the saponins
The dominant aglycone of the saponin fraction, released on hydrolysis. Oleanolic acid itself has broadly documented anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective activity in preclinical models, but that literature is not specific to this plant and the free acid is a minor part of what an aqueous preparation delivers.
Hederagenin
Pentacyclic triterpene (saponin aglycone)Concentration: Not established for the crude drug; identified among the triterpenoids of the root bark
A second saponin aglycone found in the root bark. As with oleanolic acid, its reported activities come from work on the isolated compound rather than on this species.
Echinocystic acid
Pentacyclic triterpene (saponin aglycone)Concentration: Not established for the crude drug; identified among the triterpenoids of the root bark
One of the triterpene aglycones catalogued in the root bark by high-resolution mass spectrometry. No species-specific pharmacology has been reported for it here.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Zanthoxylum nitidum (Radix Zanthoxyli, Liang Mian Zhen) or Zanthoxylum ailanthoides supplied as Niao Bu Su
Niao Bu Su means birds will not perch, a description of a thorny stem rather than a botanical identity, and it is applied to more than one plant. In the Chinese materia medica the name covers the stems and branches of two Araliaceae, Aralia chinensis and Kalopanax septemlobus, while the near-identical folk name Niao Bu Ta is an alias for Zanthoxylum ailanthoides, a Rutaceae. Radix Zanthoxyli names a Rutaceae root whose active chemistry is benzophenanthridine alkaloids such as nitidine and chelerythrine, cytotoxic DNA-intercalating compounds with no relationship to the oleanane triterpenoid saponins of Aralia. A prescription written for one and filled with the other is not a potency error but a different drug with a different toxicology.
Clinical note: Insist on a binomial on the label, not the pinyin name. If the supplied material is a root rather than thorny stems and branches, or if the certificate names a Zanthoxylum species, it is not this drug.
Kalopanax septemlobus (Ci Qiu) supplied as Niao Bu Su
Standard Chinese sources treat Niao Bu Su as covering the stems and branches of either Kalopanax septemlobus or Aralia chinensis. Both are Araliaceae and both are triterpenoid saponin drugs, so the substitution is far less serious than the Rutaceae one, but the saponin profiles differ and no equivalence study supports treating them as interchangeable. The bark of Kalopanax also circulates regionally under the separate drug name Hai Tong Pi, which is itself a name shared with unrelated species.
Clinical note: Acceptable as a regional variant in traditional practice, but record which species was actually dispensed, since none of the chemical work cited here was done on Kalopanax.
Aralia elata (Liao Dong Cong Mu) used as a source of evidence for this drug
Aralia elata is the better-studied congener and much of the saponin chemistry and pharmacology cited under the genus name, including the antiulcer work on araloside A and the oleanolic acid saponin surveys of root bark, was generated on that species. The two share several saponins but have not been shown equivalent. This entry exists to keep Aralia elata findings from being read into an Aralia chinensis monograph by default.
Clinical note: When citing Aralia evidence in support of this drug, name the species the study used. Most of it is not Aralia chinensis.
Dosage Calculator
⚖ Dosage Calculator
A weight-based mathematical estimate for Niao Bu Su. Not a prescription.
Evidence Tier
1 study on recordRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
0
Randomized controlled trial
0
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
1
0 verified · 1 unverified
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Unlocking the Anti-Breast Cancer Potential of Aralia chinensis L.
Chemical and cell-based study of the total saponin fraction of Aralia chinensis root bark. Using high-resolution mass spectrometry with serum pharmacochemistry, the authors catalogued 38 triterpenoid saponins, 3 steroidal saponins and 8 triterpenoids in the fraction and detected 22 prototype compounds in rat serum after oral dosing. Network pharmacology and docking implicated the Src, PI3K and EGFR axis, with araloside A and elatoside L binding most strongly, and in MCF-7 cells the fraction suppressed proliferation and migration and reduced Src, PI3K and EGFR expression. No in vivo efficacy work was done. This is the most substantive published study specific to this species; it is a cell and modelling study on a root bark extract, and carries no implication for clinical use.
Historical Texts
Ben Cao Gang Mu Shi Yi (Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica), Zhao Xuemin
Qing dynasty, compiled 1765, printed 1871Cai Yao Shu (Book of Herb Gathering), Wang Lianshi
Qing dynastyReferences
- Xu Y, Liu J, Zeng Y, Jin S, Liu W, Li Z, et al.. Traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicity and quality control of medicinal genus Aralia: A review . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2022) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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