Carpesium fruit

A child with a swollen belly, sallow face, erratic appetite and colicky pain around the navel that comes and goes, where worms are suspected or confirmed

Mixed parasite infestation where a broad, gentle anthelmintic is wanted alongside stronger agents such as bing lang and shi jun zi

Overview. He shi is the small, dry, ribbed fruit of Carpesium abrotanoides, a weedy composite of woodland margins and stream banks across China, Korea, Japan and the Himalaya. The mature fruits are gathered in autumn, dried and used whole or lightly crushed. In Chinese medicine it belongs to the class of parasite-expelling herbs and is valued because it is relatively mild, kills a broad range of intestinal worms, and helps clear the food stagnation that so often accompanies worm infestation in children.

Clinical Notes. He shi is seldom given alone. In the classic anti-parasite pills it is combined with shi jun zi (Quisqualis), bing lang (Areca), ku lian pi (Melia bark), wu mei (mume) and chuan jiao (Zanthoxylum), and modern practice uses the same logic: a broad-spectrum mixture, taken on an empty stomach in the morning for two or three days, followed by a mild purgative or a digestive formula to move the killed worms out.

Chinese Medicine Profile. Temperature: neutral, slightly toxic. Taste: bitter, acrid. Channels: Spleen, Stomach. Actions: Kills intestinal parasites; Reduces food accumulation and the abdominal distension that goes with it; Relieves worm-related abdominal pain.