Herpetospermum, Gser Gyi Me Tog གསེར་གྱི་མེ་ཏོག
Himalayan Bitter GourdGser Gyi Me Tog (Tibetan)
Bo Leng Gua Zi (TCM)
Beej Karela (Hindi)
Herpetospermum pedunculosum(Photo by Max Antheunisse) (plantillustrations)
Herpetospermum seed(Chengdu Medicine Market, Adam, 2017)
Botanical name:
Herpetospermum pedunculosum (syn. Bryonia pedunculosa, Herpetospermun caudigerum, H, grandiflorum)
Parts used:
Seed
Temperature & Taste:
Cold, dry. Bitter
Uses:
1. Clears Liver Heat:
-Hepatitis, Cirrhosis
-excellent for all Bile diseases
-skin diseases from Liver heat
2. Clears Heat and Damp:
-Heat and Fever associated with Stomach and Intestines
-Diarrhea, Indigestion
-Gall Bladder pain, Cholecystitis, Jaundice
Dose:
1500mg–3 grams
Substitute:
1. Seeds of Momordica cochinchinensis (listed by Russian sources)
2. Flowers of Hemerocallis minor (Tibetan–Buryat)
Main Combinations:
1. Liver Heat, Chronic Liver diseases, Cirrhosis, Jaundice, Cholecystitis:
i. Herpetospermum with Aconitum heterophyllum, Gentian flower, Swertia, Picrorhiza, Barberry, Safflower
ii. Herpetospermum with Shilajit, Safflower, Swertia, Costus (as in Bezoar 9)
iii. Herpetospermum with Meconopsis, Tabasheer, Emblic Myrobalan, Chebulic Myrobalan, Calcite, Clove, Cinnamon, Costus, Safflower, Saxifrage spp. (as in Meconopsis 25 of Tibetan Medicine)
2. Liver heat with red eyes and headache, Gall Bladder pain, Hypertension, Herpetospermum with Enblic Myrobalan, Shilajit, Lagotis, Madder, Safflower, Costus, Chebulic and Belleric Myrobalan, Tinospora (as in Emblic 25 of Tibetan Medicine)
3. Bile diseases with bitter taste, yellowing of the eyes, indigestion, epigatric pain, Herpetospermum with Chebulic Myrobalan, Pomegranate, Shilajit (as in Golden 5 of Tibetan Medicine)
4. Heat, Poison, Chronic Fever, Herpetospermum, Calcite, Safflower, Clove, Sandalwood, Costus, Chebulic Myrobalan, Tabasheer
Major Formula:
Amomum 11 (Ko la 11) (Tibetan)
Amomum 19 (Ko la 19) (Tibetan)
Bezoar 9 (Gi wan 9) (Tibetan)
Bile Conqueror (Mkhris las rnam rgyal) (Tibetan)
Calm the Shocked Mind 20 Pills (Mogolian)
Chebula 7 (A ru bdun pa) (Tibetan)
Crystal Moon 37 (Zla shel so bdun) (Tibetan)
Emblic 25 (Skyu ru nyer lnga) (Tibetan)
Gentiana algida 15 (Spang rgyan dkar po 15) (Tibetan)
Golden 5 (Gser mdog 5) (Tibetan)
Golden 11 (Gser mdog 11) (Tibetan)
Golden Pacific (Zhi gser) (Tibetan)
Meconopsis 25 (Tibetan)
Swertia 8 (Tig ta brgyad pa) (Tibetan)
Cautions:
Not suitable for Cold and weak digestion