Tian Men Dong

Asparagus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Merr. (Asparagaceae) is a herbaceous to semi-woody perennial native to China, Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia, with slender twining or scrambling stems up to 1-2 m bearing curved spines and fascicles of needle-like cladodes (modified stem segments) that function as leaves. The true leaves are reduced to scales. From a fibrous crown it produces numerous fleshy spindle-shaped tuberous roots 4-10 cm long with translucent yellowish flesh. These tubers are dug in autumn or winter, scalded, peeled, and sun-dried. In TCM, Tian Men Dong is sweet and bitter in flavor and very cold in nature, entering the Lung and Kidney channels; it nourishes Yin, moistens dryness, clears Lung heat, and generates fluids, especially for dry cough and thirst.