Bian Dou Hua
StarLablab purpureus (L.) Sweet
☯ TCM Properties
Clears Summer-Heat and Resolves Dampness; Strengthens the Spleen and Harmonizes the Middle; Stops Dysentery; Astringes to Stop Vaginal Discharge
Traditional Chinese Uses
Bian Dou Hua (hyacinth bean flower) is a neutral, sweet herb used in Chinese medicine to resolve Summerheat, clear Dampness, and harmonize the Stomach. It is used for Summerheat-Damp patterns with nausea, diarrhea, and digestive discomfort during hot, humid weather, as well as for Damp-Heat dysentery and leukorrhea. As the flower of the white hyacinth bean (Bai Bian Dou), it shares similar Spleen-supporting and Dampness-clearing properties but in a lighter, more easily-dispersing form suited to the upper digestive tract.
Western Herbalism Properties
Botanical Description
Lablab purpureus is a vigorous twining herbaceous perennial vine in the Fabaceae family widely cultivated across the tropics and subtropics as a pulse, vegetable, and ornamental, and treated as an annual in temperate climates. The climbing stems reach 3-6 m, often tinged purple, and bear large trifoliolate leaves with broadly ovate-rhombic leaflets 6-15 cm long. Showy axillary racemes 15-40 cm long display fragrant pea-like flowers in white, lilac, or deep purple, each about 1.5 cm long with an upright standard, lateral wings, and a sharply incurved keel. The fruit is a flat, glossy, sickle-shaped purplish or green pod 4-12 cm long tipped with a persistent style, containing 2-5 oval seeds with a conspicuous white linear hilum. Bian Dou Hua refers specifically to the dried open flowers, collected during the flowering season before fading.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 6-15g | Daily | — | — | — |
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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