Traditionally used for
- Headaches
- Nose & throat
- Nerves & recovery
- Pain & joints
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
- Bleeding disorders
- Kidney conditions
☯ TCM Properties
Dispels Wind-Damp opens the channels and collaterals and relieves pain; Invigorates the Blood, Removes Blood Stasis
Traditional Chinese Uses
Qi Ye Lian is Schefflera heptaphylla (syn. S. octophylla), the root, stem and leaf being used. Bitter, pungent and warm, entering the Liver channel, it dispels Wind-Damp, opens the channels and collaterals, and invigorates the Blood to remove stasis, thereby relieving pain and swelling. It is a well-regarded analgesic in southern Chinese folk medicine, used for Wind-Damp painful obstruction (rheumatic and arthritic joint pain), limb numbness, headache, sore swollen throat, and the aches of traumatic injury; it is often decocted in water or steeped in wine.
For traumatic bleeding, the fresh leaves are traditionally crushed and applied directly to stanch bleeding. It is used both internally in decoction and topically. Note that the record's English common name ("Schefflera arboricola") refers to a related ornamental species; the text follows the stated scientific_name, S. heptaphylla.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Qi Ye Lian is Schefflera heptaphylla (L.) Frodin (synonym S. octophylla) of the Araliaceae, an evergreen shrub or small tree 2-15 m tall, widespread in southern China, Taiwan, Hainan, and across tropical Asia. The thick, smooth gray bark conceals a fibrous inner bark. Long-petioled palmately compound leaves bear typically seven to nine elliptic to obovate leaflets, each 9-17 cm long, leathery, dark glossy green above and paler below, with entire margins and acuminate tips. Numerous small whitish flowers are crowded in compound terminal panicles of globose umbels, producing globose drupes 4-5 mm across that turn dark purple at maturity. The leaves, root and bark are used in southern Chinese folk medicine and Yao ethnomedicine to dispel wind-dampness, reduce swelling, and relieve pain from sprains, rheumatic complaints, and sore throat.
Active Constituents
3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid
Dicaffeoylquinic acid (hydroxycinnamate ester)Concentration: One of three caffeoylquinic acids isolated from the aerial parts; the most potent antiviral of the three
Inhibits respiratory syncytial virus in a plaque reduction assay with an IC50 of 1.16 micromolar, about 0.6 micrograms per millilitre, while cytotoxicity to HEp-2 cells stays above 1000 micromolar. The action is specific to RSV, with no activity against influenza A, Coxsackie B3 or herpes simplex type 1, and it is the basis of the use of this plant in southern Chinese herbal cold teas.
3,4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid
Dicaffeoylquinic acid (hydroxycinnamate ester)Concentration: Isolated from the aerial parts alongside the 3,5-isomer
Anti-RSV activity with an IC50 of 2.33 micromolar, about 1.2 micrograms per millilitre, and negligible cytotoxicity. Together with the 3,5-isomer it accounts for the antiviral fraction of the plant.
3-O-caffeoylquinic acid (chlorogenic acid)
Monocaffeoylquinic acid (hydroxycinnamate ester)Concentration: The third caffeoylquinic acid isolated, markedly less active than the dicaffeoyl esters
The monoester is much weaker against RSV than the dicaffeoyl compounds, showing that the second caffeoyl group carries the activity. It contributes to general antioxidant capacity.
3-epi-betulinic acid 3-O-sulfate
Sulfated lupane triterpenoidConcentration: One of the pure triterpenoids isolated from the plant and among the most active in assay
An unusual sulfated triterpene reported as one of the highly active pure compounds of this species. A sulfated betulinic acid derivative from the leaves was also the most potent procoagulant in a coagulation study, so this structural class carries a haemostatic as well as an antiviral signal.
3-alpha-hydroxylup-20(29)-ene-23,28-dioic acid
Lupane triterpenoid dicarboxylic acidConcentration: Isolated as a pure active triterpenoid, in contrast to the largely inactive glycosides
One of the two highly active free triterpenoids of the species, active where the corresponding saponin was inactive. That contrast matters practically: glycosylation abolishes the activity, so preparations differing in saponin hydrolysis will differ in effect.
Heptursosides A to D
Ursane-type triterpenoid saponinsConcentration: Four new ursane saponins among nine triterpenoid saponins reported from the stem bark
Stem bark saponins that inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production in RAW264.7 macrophages, giving a cell-level anti-inflammatory mechanism consistent with traditional use for painful obstruction.
Heptoleosides A to D and heptdamoside A
Oleanane-type and dammarane-type triterpenoid saponinsConcentration: Four oleanane saponins and one dammarane saponin from the stem bark, reported with the heptursosides
The remainder of the stem bark saponin fraction. Several members inhibit nitric oxide production in stimulated macrophages; as a class the saponins are also the fraction most likely to irritate mucosa and to haemolyse in vitro.
Calcium oxalate raphides
Insoluble inorganic salt crystalsConcentration: Characteristic of Araliaceae including Schefflera; oxalic acid measured at about 2.6 mg/g, roughly 0.26 percent, in commercial Qi Ye Lian bulk herb and about 0.22 percent in tablets
Needle-shaped oxalate crystals cause the oral and pharyngeal irritation for which Schefflera houseplants are notorious in pets and children. At the measured oxalate content, maximum labelled dosing of a Qi Ye Lian tablet product delivers on the order of a few milligrams of oxalic acid daily, which places it in the moderately high oxalate category for a herb rather than at a toxic level, but is relevant in oxalate nephrolithiasis.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Schefflera arboricola (Heptapleurum arboricola), the usual commercial Qi Ye Lian
The pinyin name Qi Ye Lian does not identify this species. In the Chinese materia medica and in the Western herb trade Qi Ye Lian is standardly the stem and leaf of Schefflera arboricola, also sold as Han Tao Ye, with Schefflera venulosa given as a co-official source; that is what Qi Ye Lian tablets and Qi Ye Lian analgesic pills are made from. Schefflera heptaphylla, the species in this record, is the larger tree formerly called Schefflera octophylla, whose own standard drug names are Ya Jiao Mu and Ya Jiao Mu Pi. The chemistry recorded here, the caffeoylquinic acids and the stem bark saponins, was generated on S. heptaphylla and cannot be assumed to describe a Qi Ye Lian product.
Clinical note: Read the binomial before dosing. If the label says only Qi Ye Lian or Radix Schefflerae, assume Schefflera arboricola unless the supplier confirms otherwise, and do not apply S. heptaphylla data to it or the reverse.
Lardizabalaceae vines sold as Mu Tong Qi Ye Lian
Chinese materia medica sources note explicitly that besides the Schefflera drug, a Lardizabalaceae vine is also entered into commerce as Qi Ye Lian. That is a substitution across plant families, not merely across species, and the substituted material shares neither the caffeoylquinic acids nor the araliaceous saponins. Mu Tong group drugs additionally carry the historical nephrotoxicity concern attached to aristolochic acid contamination in that trade.
Clinical note: Treat unbinomialised Qi Ye Lian as unidentified plant material. This is the collision most likely to cause harm, because a Lardizabalaceae substitution brings a different and potentially nephrotoxic risk profile.
Anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs (warfarin, direct oral anticoagulants, heparin, aspirin, clopidogrel)
The evidence points two ways and a practitioner should know both. A controlled study of Schefflera heptaphylla leaf extracts found them procoagulant, shortening prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time and thrombin time and raising fibrinogen in vitro, and partially reversing heparin anticoagulation in rats at 0.08 to 0.16 g/kg, with a proposed mechanism of raised thromboxane B2 and endothelin-1 and lowered 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha and endothelial nitric oxide synthase. Against that, the drug is classified in TCM as blood-invigorating and stasis-dispelling, and Qi Ye Lian products are conventionally labelled with a caution in anticoagulant therapy and in haemorrhagic disorders. The animal data are the harder evidence and they indicate opposition to anticoagulation, not addition to it.
Clinical note: In a patient on warfarin or heparin, watch for loss of anticoagulant effect rather than only for bleeding, and check INR after starting or stopping. Do not assume the conventional blood-invigorating caution predicts the direction here.
Pregnancy
Blood-invigorating drugs of this class are contraindicated in pregnancy by convention, and Qi Ye Lian products carry an explicit pregnancy contraindication. No reproductive toxicology study has been performed on Schefflera heptaphylla, so the contraindication rests on category and on product labelling rather than on data.
Clinical note: Avoid in pregnancy and use cautiously with heavy menstrual bleeding, in line with the labelled contraindication.
Oxalate-restricted regimens and calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis
Schefflera material contains calcium oxalate, and independent assay of commercial Qi Ye Lian found about 0.26 percent oxalic acid in bulk herb and 0.22 percent in tablets, delivering a few milligrams a day at maximum labelled dosing. That is small against normal dietary oxalate but is not nothing in a patient on a deliberately restricted intake.
Clinical note: Worth counting in recurrent calcium oxalate stone formers on an oxalate-restricted diet; no restriction is needed otherwise. Warn owners that the plant material is an oral irritant if chewed by cats and dogs.
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
2 verified · 2 unverified
Show 4 studies
- Antiviral activity and mode of action of caffeoylquinic acids from Schefflera heptaphylla (L.) Frodin
- Antiviral triterpenoids from the medicinal plant Schefflera heptaphylla
- Coagulant Effects and Mechanism of Schefflera heptaphylla (L.) Frodin
- New ursane-type triterpenoid saponins from the stem bark of Schefflera heptaphylla
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
Antiviral activity and mode of action of caffeoylquinic acids from Schefflera heptaphylla (L.) Frodin
Three caffeoylquinic acids from Schefflera heptaphylla were tested against respiratory syncytial virus by plaque reduction. 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid and 3,4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid inhibited RSV with IC50 values of 1.16 and 2.33 micromolar while CC50 against HEp-2 cells exceeded 1000 micromolar, so the effect was not cytotoxicity. Activity was specific to RSV, absent against influenza A, Coxsackie B3 and herpes simplex type 1.
Antiviral triterpenoids from the medicinal plant Schefflera heptaphylla
Triterpenoids were isolated from Schefflera heptaphylla and screened for antiviral activity. The free triterpenoids 3-alpha-hydroxylup-20(29)-ene-23,28-dioic acid and 3-epi-betulinic acid 3-O-sulfate were active while the corresponding saponin was not, showing that activity resides in the aglycone-type compounds rather than the glycosides.
Coagulant Effects and Mechanism of Schefflera heptaphylla (L.) Frodin
Ethanol, ethyl acetate and n-butanol extracts of Schefflera heptaphylla leaves were assayed for coagulation activity in vitro and in a heparin-anticoagulated rat model. The ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions significantly shortened thrombin time, prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time and raised fibrinogen, and a sulfated betulinic acid derivative was the most potent single compound, shortening prothrombin time and raising fibrinogen in heparinised rats at 0.08 to 0.16 g/kg. The proposed mechanism was a shift in vascular endothelial mediators: raised thromboxane B2 and endothelin-1, lowered 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha and endothelial nitric oxide synthase.
New ursane-type triterpenoid saponins from the stem bark of Schefflera heptaphylla
Nine triterpenoid saponins, including four new ursane-type heptursosides A to D, were isolated from the stem bark and tested for anti-inflammatory activity. Several inhibited lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production in RAW264.7 macrophages, a cell-level anti-inflammatory result specific to the stem bark rather than to the leaf or root.
Historical Texts
Guangxi Zhong Cao Yao (Guangxi Chinese Herbal Medicines)
Modern provincial materia medica, 1970sLing Nan Cai Yao Lu (Record of Medicinal Herbs Gathered in Lingnan)
Republican period, 1932Folk use among the Yi, Hani and Zhuang peoples of Yunnan, Guangxi and Guangdong
Oral tradition, documented in twentieth century provincial surveysReferences
- Wang Yan; Khan Farooq-Ahmad; Siddiqui Mahwish; Aamer Muhammad; Lu Cong; Atta-ur-Rahman; Atia-tul-Wahab; Choudhary M. Iqbal. The genus Schefflera: A review of traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2021) [DOI]
- Liu Xuqiang; Dong Jing; Liang Qiongxin; Wang Hui-min David; Liu Zhenhua; Xu Ruian; Kang Wenyi. Coagulant Effects and Mechanism of Schefflera heptaphylla (L.) Frodin . Molecules (2019) [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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