Chinese Herbalism
Blackend swallowwort
Vincetoxicum atratum
Also known as swallowwort root, cynanchum root, bai wei, bái wēi.
Bai wei is the tuft of thin, yellowish-brown roots and short rhizome of a swallowwort of dry hillsides and open woods across northern and eastern China; the related Cynanchum versicolor is an accepted alternative. The roots are dug in spring or autumn and dried. Botanists have transferred the plant to Vincetoxicum, but the pharmacopoeial name remains Cynanchum atratum. In the materia medica it stands among the herbs that clear deficiency heat, valued because it cools the blood and drains heat through the urine without the harshness of huang lian or the dryness of huang bai.
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Indications what the tradition reached for it in
- Lingering low-grade fever after a warm disease
- Tidal fever and night fever from yin deficiency
- Postpartum deficiency fever
- Postpartum fainting from blood deficiency with heat
- Heat entering the nutritive and blood levels with fever and rash
- Painful urination with heat or blood
- Sores, boils and toxic swellings
- Sore throat with heat
- Snakebite (adjunct, topical and internal)
- Atopic dermatitis and inflamed itchy skin (topical, emerging data)
Specific indications
A fever that lingers at a low grade for weeks after an infection, worse in the afternoon or at night, with a thin body and a red tongue, in a patient too depleted for strongly bitter cold herbs
Postpartum weakness with a slight fever, dizziness and faintness, treated with bai wei, dang gui and ren shen
Safety
The record lists 4 contraindications; open the plate in the library to read them in full.
In practice
Bai wei is a cooling herb that can be given to the weak. Its classic setting is the low fever that will not leave: after a warm disease, in yin deficiency with afternoon heat, or after childbirth when blood is depleted and a slight fever, dizziness and faintness persist.
In Chinese medicine
Temperature: cold. Taste: bitter, salty. Channels: Stomach, Liver, Kidney. Actions: Clears heat and cools the blood, including deficiency heat and lingering fever; Promotes urination and relieves painful, hot or bloody urination; Resolves toxicity and treats sores, swellings and snakebite.
Dosing as the sources wrote it
| Preparation | As written | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Decoction | 5-10 g dried root and rhizome daily | 5000-10000 mg |
| Tincture (1:5, 45%) | 1-3 mL three times daily | 1-3 mL |
| Topical poultice | fresh root crushed and applied to sores or bites as needed |
Doses are reproduced from the sources for practitioners and are not a recommendation for any person.
From the sources
Overview. Bai wei is the tuft of thin, yellowish-brown roots and short rhizome of a swallowwort of dry hillsides and open woods across northern and eastern China; the related Cynanchum versicolor is an accepted alternative. The roots are dug in spring or autumn and dried. Botanists have transferred the plant to Vincetoxicum, but the pharmacopoeial name remains Cynanchum atratum. In the materia medica it stands among the herbs that clear deficiency heat, valued because it cools the blood and drains heat through the urine without the harshness of huang lian or the dryness of huang bai.
Clinical Notes. Bai wei is a cooling herb that can be given to the weak. Its classic setting is the low fever that will not leave: after a warm disease, in yin deficiency with afternoon heat, or after childbirth when blood is depleted and a slight fever, dizziness and faintness persist.
In formulas
Blackend swallowwort stands in 8 documented formulas in the library, among them má hung dèng shi wei wán, xin jià yù nữ jiān, gù bião zhi hàn tàng, jià jiǎn wei rut tǎng, wei ruí tàng.
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Blessed ThistleCnicus benedictusThe whole plate is in the library. The compass, Compare, the Sky of eleven hundred plants and the formulary open with an email address and a password, free, with the formula builder and its safety engine. Herbert without limit, his formulating, clients, the handouts and the labels are the paid room.
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