Shui Ding Xiang
StarLudwigia prostrata Roxb.
☯ TCM Properties
Clears Heat and reduces inflammation and swelling; Promote urination
Traditional Chinese Uses
Shui Ding Xiang is the whole herb of Ludwigia prostrata (climbing seedbox), a semi-aquatic plant classed among the Dampness-transforming, heat-clearing medicinals. Sweet and bland in flavour and cold in nature, it enters the Kidney and Bladder channels. It clears Heat and reduces inflammation and swelling while promoting urination, and is chiefly used for damp-heat Lin syndrome (painful, difficult urination), chronic urinary-tract infection and edema. Its heat-clearing, detoxifying action is also applied to sore, swollen throat, dysentery, toothache, and itchy, red, swollen skin conditions. It is commonly decocted (often 15–30 g of fresh or dried herb) and may be combined with other heat-clearing, diuretic herbs in formulas for dysuria.
Western Herbalism Properties
Botanical Description
Shui Ding Xiang is the whole herb of Ludwigia prostrata (Onagraceae), an erect or ascending annual marsh herb of wet lowland habitats across East and South Asia. The reddish, often four-angled stems reach 15-60 cm and may root at the lower nodes. Leaves are alternate, lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 3-9 cm long, glabrous, tapering at both ends. The small flowers are solitary and sessile in the leaf axils, bearing four tiny yellow petals, four sepals and an inferior ovary. The fruit is a slender, reddish, four-angled capsule 1.5-3 cm long that splits to release numerous minute seeds. The dried whole plant is used to clear heat, promote urination, reduce swelling and check dysentery.
Wet places at low elevations — ditches, paddy-field margins, marshes, pond edges and slow streambanks.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 9-15g | 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.
📝 Notes
Public notes from the community and your own private notes on Shui Ding Xiang.
No notes yet.