Suppression
Ban-Xia
Category: Medicines - plant based
Type
Voluntary
Introduction and description
Pinellia ternata (Chinese: 半夏, Japanese: カラスビシャク), crow-dipper, Ban-Xia or Pan-Hsia, is a plant native to China, Japan, and Korea, but also grows as an invasive weed in parts of Europe (Austria, Germany) and North America (California, Ontario, northeastern United States).
Description
The leaves are trifoliate, while the flowers are of the spathe and spadix form typical of plants in Araceae.
The plant spreads by rhizomes, and there are also small bulblets (a.k.a. bulbils) at the base of each leaf. Flowers are borne in spring.
Traditional medicine
As with many traditional medicines, the plant in its raw form contains toxins, but also contains a number of essential chemicals that can only be used after considerable processing by a qualified healer. The observations provide more detail on its uses
Pinellia ternata is known as the herb effective in "removing dampness-phlegm", one of the causes of obesity in traditional Chinese medicine, as such there is interest in the plant for this reason.
Obesity has a host of different causes, however, so you need to know the cause first before this herb is used.
Related observations
Healing observations
- Dr Duke's list of Chemicals and their Biological Activities in: Pinellia ternata BREITENBACH (Araceae) -- Ban-Xia, Pan-Hsia 019149
- Dr Duke's list of Plants containing ARGININE 017958
- Dr Duke's list of Plants containing GLYCINE 017955