Ci Ji Li

Ci Ji Li is the dried ripe fruit of Tribulus terrestris L. (Zygophyllaceae), the puncture vine or caltrops, a prostrate annual or short-lived perennial herb of warm temperate to tropical regions worldwide, common in sandy dry soils across northern China. The plant has pinnately compound opposite leaves with small ovate leaflets and solitary yellow five-petaled flowers in the leaf axils. The schizocarpic fruit splits into five wedge-shaped hard burs each bearing two pairs of sharp spines that readily puncture skin or tires, the diagnostic feature of the drug. In traditional Chinese medicine the fruit is acrid, bitter, slightly warm, and mildly toxic, entering the Liver channel; it calms the liver, subdues ascendant liver yang, expels wind, brightens the eyes, and is used for headache, dizziness, red itchy eyes, vitiligo, and urticaria. It is also a major Ayurvedic tonic (Gokshura).