Jian Dao Cao
StarClinopodium gracile (Benth.) Matsum.
Synonyms: Calamintha gracilis Benth., Satureja gracilis (Benth.) Kuntze
Traditionally used for
- Nose & throat
- Colds & fever
- Heart & circulation
- Skin
Cautions & contraindications
- Bleeding disorders
- Liver conditions
☯ TCM Properties
Removes Wind, reduces Heat, promotes the circulation of Qi, invigorates the Blood and resolves swelling
Traditional Chinese Uses
Jian Dao Cao (剪刀草) here refers to the whole herb of Clinopodium gracile (Lamiaceae), Herba Clinopodii Gracilis, a widely used Chinese folk medicine and not the Bidens species sometimes given the same common name. Bitter and pungent with a neutral nature, it dispels Wind and clears Heat while moving Qi and invigorating the Blood to reduce swelling.
In folk practice it is valued for hemorrhagic disorders and is applied to colds and fevers, sore and swollen throat, mumps, and to traumatic injury, bruising, sores and abscesses where its blood-moving and swelling-resolving actions disperse stasis. It is used internally as a decoction and externally as a poultice for local swelling and bleeding. Its constituents include triterpenoid saponins associated with anti-inflammatory activity.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Jian Dao Cao (剪刀草), source of Herba Clinopodii Gracilis, is the dried whole plant of Clinopodium gracile (Benth.) Matsum. (Lamiaceae), a slender annual to short-lived perennial of moist banks, roadsides, and shaded grassy slopes across southern China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. The delicate, creeping-to-ascending square stems reach 15-40 cm and bear small opposite ovate, shallowly toothed leaves. Tiny two-lipped whitish to pale purple flowers sit in loose axillary and terminal whorls. Aromatic, acrid and bitter, and cool to slightly warm, entering the Liver channel, in folk Chinese medicine it dispels wind and clears heat, promotes qi circulation, invigorates blood, and resolves toxicity and swelling, used for colds, sore throat, urticaria, abscesses, erysipelas, and insect and snake bites.
Moist shaded banks, damp roadsides, streamsides, and grassy slopes at low to middle elevations.
Active Constituents
Clinograsaponins A and B
Oleanane triterpenoid saponinsConcentration: two new saponins isolated from the whole herb alongside twelve known compounds
These are the species-specific saponins described from Clinopodium gracile and were evaluated against ATP-citrate lyase and NF-kappaB signalling. Triterpenoid saponins are the characteristic and pharmacologically dominant class of this genus.
Clinopodic acid M and related caffeic acid oligomers
Caffeic acid oligomers (polyphenols)Concentration: eight new oligomers were isolated from the herb; clinopodic acid M was the most active, inhibiting hyaluronidase with IC50 19 micromolar
These rosmarinic-acid-derived oligomers are the most distinctive phenolics of the species. Hyaluronidase inhibition at low micromolar potency is consistent with the traditional use of the herb for swelling, urticaria and insect bites, since hyaluronidase activity underlies the spread of local oedema.
Buddlejasaponin-type and clinopodiside-type triterpenoid saponins
Oleanane triterpenoid saponinsConcentration: the genus Clinopodium yields over 130 isolated compounds of which some 67 are triterpenoid saponins
The saponin fraction is the arm of Clinopodium chemistry responsible for the haemostatic and anti-inflammatory activity for which the genus is known, and its biosynthesis in this species has been mapped at the transcriptome level. Note that most of the pharmacology in this class was generated on Clinopodium chinense and Clinopodium polycephalum, not on Clinopodium gracile.
Luteolin, apigenin and quercetin glycosides
FlavonoidsConcentration: around 26 flavonoids are reported across the genus
The flavonoid fraction contributes antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity and is the part of the extract most likely to be responsible for its effects on lipid handling in the liver.
Germacrene D
Sesquiterpene hydrocarbon (essential oil)Concentration: reported at 20.6% of the essential oil of Chinese-collected Clinopodium gracile
The essential oil of this species is sesquiterpene-dominated, with germacrene D as the principal component, and it showed larvicidal activity against Aedes albopictus. Clinically the important point is what is absent: unlike many Clinopodium species the oil of Clinopodium gracile contains no pulegone, the hepatotoxic and abortifacient monoterpene that makes pennyroyal-type oils dangerous.
Nootkatone
Sesquiterpene ketone (essential oil)Concentration: reported at 8.2% of the essential oil
A secondary component of the volatile fraction, contributing to the aroma and to the insecticidal activity of the oil. It is present at levels far below anything achieved by a water decoction of the herb.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Duan Xue Liu (Clinopodium chinense or Clinopodium polycephalum) where Clinopodium gracile is supplied under that name
The Chinese Pharmacopoeia defines Duan Xue Liu as the dried aerial parts of Clinopodium chinense or Clinopodium polycephalum only, and the haemostatic activity, the coagulation-active compounds and the eight centuries of clinical use all belong to those two species. Clinopodium gracile nonetheless carries duan xue liu among its folk names in Chinese sources, alongside jian dao cao. Even the two official species have needed multidimensional analysis to separate them and are chemically distinct from one another, so a third species entering under the same vernacular is a real quality-control problem rather than a pedantic one.
Clinical note: If you are prescribing for bleeding, specify Clinopodium chinense or Clinopodium polycephalum by binomial. Clinopodium gracile is the wind-dispelling, heat-clearing folk herb of the group and its haemostatic activity has not been demonstrated.
Warfarin and other anticoagulants or antiplatelet agents
Coagulation-active constituents have been isolated from Clinopodium chinense, and given the vernacular overlap described above a patient prescribed Clinopodium gracile may receive material from the haemostatic species. No coagulation study has been done on Clinopodium gracile itself, and no clinical interaction has been reported for any Clinopodium species.
Clinical note: In an anticoagulated patient, either avoid Clinopodium species or confirm the binomial with the supplier and monitor INR after starting.
Pulegone-containing mint-family oils (pennyroyal, Mentha pulegium, and pulegone-rich Clinopodium species)
Many Clinopodium species accumulate pulegone as the main essential-oil monoterpene, and pulegone is bioactivated to menthofuran and hepatotoxic reactive metabolites, which is why pennyroyal oil is dangerous. Analysis of Chinese-collected Clinopodium gracile found no pulegone at all, the oil being dominated instead by germacrene D at 20.6%, nootkatone at 8.2% and other sesquiterpenes. The genus-level warning therefore does not transfer to this species.
Clinical note: Do not apply pennyroyal-type warnings to Clinopodium gracile decoctions. Do apply them if a concentrated essential oil of an unspecified Clinopodium species is offered, since chemotype and origin decide the pulegone content.
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 4 studiesRecorded 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
4
1 verified · 3 unverified
Show 4 studies
- Clinopodium gracile Alleviates Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease by Upregulating Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor α and Inhibiting Mitochondrial Oxidative Damage
- Two New Oleanane-Triterpenoid Saponins from Clinopodium gracile
- Caffeic Acid Oligomers with Hyaluronidase Inhibitory Activity from Clinopodium gracile
- Clinopodium gracile inhibits mast cell-mediated allergic inflammation: involvement of calcium and nuclear factor-κB
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
Clinopodium gracile Alleviates Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease by Upregulating Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor α and Inhibiting Mitochondrial Oxidative Damage
An extract of Clinopodium gracile reduced hepatic lipid accumulation in a rodent model of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, acting through upregulation of PPAR-alpha and reduction of mitochondrial oxidative damage. This is the most substantial in vivo pharmacology available for the species and it is preclinical.
Two New Oleanane-Triterpenoid Saponins from Clinopodium gracile
Clinograsaponins A and B were isolated from the whole herb along with twelve known compounds, and the isolates were tested against ATP-citrate lyase and NF-kappaB activity. The paper establishes the species-level saponin chemistry that most later work on Clinopodium gracile relies on.
Caffeic Acid Oligomers with Hyaluronidase Inhibitory Activity from Clinopodium gracile
Eight new caffeic acid oligomers were isolated from Clinopodium gracile and screened for hyaluronidase inhibition; clinopodic acid M was the most potent with an IC50 of 19 micromolar. Hyaluronidase inhibition is a plausible mechanism for the traditional use of the herb in urticaria, insect bites and localised swelling.
Clinopodium gracile inhibits mast cell-mediated allergic inflammation: involvement of calcium and nuclear factor-κB
A water extract of Clinopodium gracile suppressed histamine release from mast cells and reduced systemic and local anaphylactic responses in rodents, through modulation of intracellular calcium and inhibition of NF-kappaB. Together with the hyaluronidase work this is the best mechanistic support for the herb's folk use in urticaria and allergic swelling.
References
- Li W, Pan J, Chen X, Guo S, Ouyang X. The Chemical Composition, Pharmacological Activity, Quality Control, Toxicity, and Pharmacokinetics of the Genus Clinopodium L. . Molecules (2025) [DOI]
- Shan C, Wang C, Zhang S, Shi Y, Ma K, Yang Q, Wu J. Transcriptome analysis of Clinopodium gracile (Benth.) Matsum and identification of genes related to Triterpenoid Saponin biosynthesis . BMC Genomics (2020) [DOI]
- Wang Y, Du K, Wang Q, Yang X, Meng D. A multidimensional strategy for characterization, distinction, and quality control of two Clinopodium medicinal plants . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2024) [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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