Shiny bugleweed

A woman with delayed or absent periods, dull lower abdominal ache and a dusky tongue who is too tired and blood-deficient for harsh blood movers

Swollen ankles and a heavy abdomen in the weeks after childbirth, with dark lochia that has not cleared

Overview. Ze lan is the flowering herb of a mint-family plant of wet meadows across China, Korea and Japan; the pharmacopoeial source is the hairy variety, Lycopus lucidus var. hirtus, and the crisp white rhizome is eaten as a vegetable. In Chinese medicine it is a mild, warming blood-invigorating herb with a secondary diuretic action, classically for menstrual and postpartum problems and for swelling after injury. It is important to separate it from the Western bugleweeds, Lycopus virginicus and Lycopus europaeus, which are used for an entirely different purpose: calming an overactive thyroid.

Clinical Notes. Ze lan is the blood mover for the woman who cannot take much moving; it clears stasis while sparing the qi and blood, so it suits the tired, slightly anemic patient with dark clotted periods, amenorrhea or lingering postpartum pain.

Chinese Medicine Profile. Temperature: slightly warm. Taste: bitter, acrid. Channels: Liver, Spleen. Actions: Invigorates the blood and regulates menstruation, gently enough that it does not injure the blood or qi; Dispels stasis and reduces swelling, in traumatic injury and in sores and abscesses; Promotes urination and reduces edema where fluid and stasis coexist; Moves the blood of the postpartum period without the heat of stronger movers.