Xuan Fu Hua

Inula japonica Thunb. (Asteraceae) is a perennial herb 30-70 cm tall native to East Asia, with erect stems, alternate lanceolate to oblong leaves with clasping bases, and terminal corymbs of bright golden-yellow radiate capitula 2.5-4 cm across. The dried flower heads, known as Xuan Fu Hua in Chinese medicine, are harvested in summer and autumn as they open, then sun-dried. In TCM, Xuan Fu Hua is bitter, acrid, and salty in flavor and slightly warm in nature, entering the Lung, Stomach, Spleen, and Large Intestine channels; it directs Lung qi downward, transforms phlegm, stops vomiting, and is one of the few flowers in the materia medica that descends rather than ascends.