Codonopsis, Klu bdud rdo rje

Klu bdud rdo rje (C. ovata) (Tibet)
Xin Jiang Dang Shen (C. clematidea) (TCM)
Picture C. ovata.
Edwards’s Botanical Register, vol. 28  (1842)

 Picture C. ovata (Royle, J.F., Illustrations of the botany … of the Himalayan Mountains and … of Cashmere (1839)
Picture Codonopsis clematidea
(Photo by Agnieszka Kwiecień) (Wikimedia)

Botanical name:


Codonopsis spp.
Several types are used:
  1. Klu bdud rdo rje. ཀླུ་བདུད་རྡོ་རྗེ་: C. ovata
  2. Klu bdud rdo rje nag po (‘Black variety’) ཀླུ་བདུད་རྡོ་རྗེ་ནག་པོ་: C. nervosa, C. bhutanica, C. thalictrifolia
  3. Klu bdud rdo rje dkar po (‘White variety’) ཀླུ་བདུད་རྡོ་རྗེ་དཀར་པོ་: C. canescens, C. viridis
  4. Klu bdud rdo rje mchog ཀླུ་བདུད་རྡོ་རྗེ་ མཆོག་: C. clematidea (Xin Jiang Dan Shen), C. mollis

Parts used:


Aerial parts; some say whole plant

Temperature & Taste:


Neutral/Cool, dry. Bitter, Pungent
One Tibetan text describes it as ‘Hot in taste, Cool in power’.

Uses:


1. Tonifies Spleen, Increases Qi: (TCM)
-Fatigue, Weakness
-poor appetite, indigestion, stomach discomfort, diarrhea from deficiency
-Cough, shortness of Breath from Lung Qi deficiency

2. Clears Wind-Damp: (Tibet)
-Skin diseases with weeping and itchiness, with or without heat; Eczema
-Leprosy, Elephantiasis (especially Klu bdud rdo rje mchog)
-Spasms and contracture of tendons and ligaments
-painful swelling of the limbs, rigid and painful swollen joints
-Arthritis; Gout
-Rheumatoid arthritis
-Goiter (Klu bdud rdo rje mchog)

3. Clears Wind, Settles Spasms: (Tibet)
-‘Brain disorders’, neurological disorders
-Tingling or Numbness
-Convulsions, Epilepsy, Apoplexy
-diseases caused by Naga Spirits (‘Nature’ Spirits, spirits of Water and Earth)
-‘Evil affliction’

4. Resists Poison:
-Epidemic diseases


Dose:


Decoction: 3–12 grams
Powder: 1–4 grams

Comment:


Some of the species used as the source of this medicine are used as a source of Codonopsis Dang Shen (Root) in TCM. Klu bdud rdo rje mchog is obtained from C. clematidea. This is called ‘Xin Jiang Dan Shen‘ in TCM. This supports the idea that Codonopsis Dang Shen can be used as a substitute for Codonopsis Klu bdud rdo rje. Nevertheless, the Tibetan indications are different, so we have separated them.

Substitute
1. Adenophora is used for Klu bdud rdo rje by Russians.

Main Combinations:


1. Chronic Skin diseases, Rheumatism, Sinusitis, Codonopsis Klu bdud rdo rje with Cassia tora seed, Triphala, Shilajit, Bdellium

Major Formulas:


Codonopsis 18 (Klu bdud ‘bco brgyad) (Tibetan)
Vajra Conquering Heart Wind 17 (Srog rlung ‘joms pa’i rdo rje bcu bdun) 

Cautions:


None noted

Main Preparations used: