Bursa pastoris, Shepherd’s PurseJi Cai 荠菜 (TCM)Sog ka pa སོག་ཀ་པ (Tibetan) |
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Ortus Sanitatis, Meydenbach, 1491 |
Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578 |
Masclef, Atlas des plantes de France, (?)Botanical name:
Capsella bursa-pastoris
Parts used:
Herb
Temperature & Taste:
Cool, dry. Mildly Sweet and Bitter
dries, binds, astringes
Classification:
2P. HEMOSTATIC
Uses:
1. Cools the Blood, Stops Bleeding and Leakage (TCM, West):
-internal and external bleeding.
-Menorrhagia which is prolonged and recurring with pale blood.
-chronic Diarrhea, Leukorrhea and Spermatorrhea;
-Incontinence and Bed-wetting.
-astringent effect on the blood system has been used for Varicose Veins.
2. Clears Damp Heat, Promotes Urine (TCM, West):
-Diarrhea and Dysentery, including those with blood and mucous in the stool.
-Urinary infections, reducing urinary tract irritation and Atony
-Gravel and Stones: ‘The agent is also useful where Uric acid or insoluble phosphates or carbonates produce irritation of the Urinary tract’ (Ellingwood).
-Fevers, including Intermittent Fevers.
-valuable in the treatment of St. Anthony’s Fire, Erysipelas, Eruptions and skin disorders.
3. Moves the Blood, Stops Wind, Regulates Circulation (TCM, West):
-Cardiac Insufficiency, Arrhythmia, Hypertension, Hypotension (it can regulate blood pressure);
-Nervous Heart Complaints;
-pain, or oppression of the chest associated with Palpitations; TCM uses it for these conditions from Heat, Damp or Phlegm.
-Headache caused by blood stagnation.
-promotes and regulate Menstruation; Pre-Menstrual Tension.
-Stimulates Labor
4. Moves the Blood, Clears Heat, Resolves Masses:
-breaks internal Abscesses.
-used for Non-Malignant Abdominal Tumors.
5. Clears and benefits the Vision. (TCM)
6. Loosens the Bowels:
-seeds were used as a laxative by ancient Greeks.
7. Externally:
i. all hot inflammations, and is, according to some (such as Maria Treben), a specific for all types of muscular disorders.
ii. Ointment is good for all wounds and bruising, esp. the head.
iii. juice dropped into the ears heals pains and noises of the ears.
iv. Good for bleeding piles.
v. fresh leaf laid to the armpits and neck to stop a Blood nose.
vi. Applied to the wrist as a poultice to stop Agues.
vii. beaten and mixed with Olive oil, it is applied to Frostbite (Galen)
Dose:
1. Larger doses are best for hemorrhage;
2. Tincture is best to move the blood.
3. Traditionally, it was sometimes taken with Milk or Red Wine to stop Bleeding; the former being better for Heat conditions, the latter, for bleeding from Coldness and deficiency.
INFUSION or BRIEF DECOCTION: 5–15 grams, and up to 20 or 30 grams (or from 30–60 grams of the fresh plant);
FLUID EXTRACT (1:1 in 25% alcohol): 1–3, 4, or 5 mls, 2–3 times daily.
TINCTURE (1:5 in 50%): 2–6 mls. 30 or 40 drops of the fresh plant tincture dropped under the tongue is very effective for postpartum bleeding;
FRESHLY EXPRESSED JUICE: 2.5–10 mls. are taken several times daily, diluted in warm water or a suitable infusion.
Main Combinations:
1. Hematuria:
i. Shepherd’s Purse with Horsetail
ii. Shepherd’s Purse with Agrimony
iii. Shepherd’s Purse, Grommel, Parsley (equal parts) boiled in Milk (Natura exenterata, Philiatros, 1655)
2. Hemoptysis:
i. Shepherd’s Purse with Plantain and Comfrey
ii. Shepherd’s Purse with Plantain, Veronica
iii. Shepherd’s Purse with Plantain and Armenian (Red) Earth
3. Heavy Menstrual Bleeding:
i. Shepherd’s Purse with Cinnamon
ii. Shepherd’s Purse with Raspberry leaf, Sage, Yarrow
iii. Shepherd’s Purse with Red Earth
4. To promote Urine, Shepherd’s Purse with Couch Grass
5. Gravel and Stones:
i. Shepherd’s Purse with Agrimony and Birch leaf
ii. Shepherd’s Purse with Knotgrass, Agrimony, Camomile (as in Decoction for Stones)
6. Incontinence, Bedwetting:
i. Shepherd’s Purse with Agrimony
ii. Shepherd’s Purse with Yarrow and Agrimony
iii. Shepherd’s Purse with Hemp seed, Agrimony, Plantain, Knotgrass (as in Decoction of Hemp Seed)
7. Meniere’s Disease, Shepherd’s Purse with Betony, Rosemary, Mistletoe, Wood Sage (Wonders in Weeds)
Major Formulas
Decoction for Stones
Decoction of Hemp Seed
Cautions:
1. Not used during pregnancy
2. Caution in people with cold and weak digestive systems.
Main Preparations used:
Distilled Water of the Leaves