Zi Zhu
StarCallicarpa formosana Rolfe
☯ TCM Properties
Retains Blood and stops bleeding; Resolves toxicity and treats burns and sores
Traditional Chinese Uses
Folium Callicarpae Formosanae (Zi Zhu Ye), the leaf and twig of Callicarpa formosana, is a bitter, astringent, cool herb that regulates the Blood and enters the Liver, Lung, and Stomach channels. Its chief action is to cool the Blood and stop bleeding, used both internally and topically for hematemesis, hemoptysis, epistaxis, blood in the stool or urine, and uterine bleeding, as well as traumatic hemorrhage. It also resolves toxicity and reduces swelling, applied to burns, scalds, sores, and inflamed throat. An officially listed source plant in the 2020 Chinese Pharmacopoeia, it is typically decocted 10-15 g (or 30-60 g fresh), or given as powder 1.5-3 g; the powdered or fresh-crushed leaf is applied directly to wounds to arrest bleeding and promote healing.
Western Herbalism Properties
Botanical Description
Zi Zhu is the leaf and tender twig of Callicarpa formosana (Lamiaceae, formerly Verbenaceae), a deciduous shrub 1-4 m tall of southern China, Taiwan and adjacent regions. Branchlets are quadrangular and densely covered with yellowish-grey stellate tomentum. Leaves are opposite, ovate to elliptic, 6-15 cm long, with serrate margins, an acuminate apex, and undersides densely stellate-hairy and dotted with minute yellow glands. Dense, shortly stalked axillary cymes bear many small lilac to purplish tubular flowers with four short corolla lobes and four exserted stamens. The fruit is a globose purple drupe about 2 mm across. The leaves and tender twigs are used to cool the blood and stop bleeding, resolve toxicity and treat burns and sores.
Thickets, forest margins and open slopes in low mountains and lowlands of subtropical southern China.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 6-15g | 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.
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