Potentilla fruticosa, Spen nag སྤེན་ནག་

Bush Cinquefoil
Spen nag (Tibet)
Picture Potentilla fruticosa
Lindman, C.A.M., Bilder ur Nordens Flora (1922)

Picture Potentilla fruticosa
(Photo by Walter Siegmund) (Wikimedia)

Botanical name:


Potentilla spp.
  1. Span nag: P. fruticosa (Yellow variety) (syn. Dasiphora fruticosa, Pentaphylloides fruticosa)
  2. Span dkar: P. dahurica (White variety)

Parts used:


Herb in flower

Temperature & Taste:


Cool, dry. Bitter, Sweet

Classification:




Uses:


1. Clears Heat, Resists Poison:
-Fever, Cold
-acute Cough; also Pulmonary Tuberculosis
-Rhinitis
-Skin eruptions
-Swollen and painful breasts, Mastitis
-Salmonella infections
-also stops bleeding from Heat and Tumors

2. Clears Damp, Promotes Urine:
-Damp / Serum diseases
-Edema, Ascites

3. Benefits Digestion, Clears Damp-Heat:
-indigestion, Vomiting
-Diarrhea, Gastroenteritis

4. Regulates Mensturation:
-said to regulate Menstruation (TCM)

5. Externally:
-used to stabilize teeth as toothpaste (white variety)


Dose:


Powder: 1–3 grams
Infusion: 2–5 grams
Decoction: 3–9 grams

Comment:


Young leaves are used as a tea substitute.

Preparation:


Ashes of Potentilla Spen nag.
  The herb is sealed between earthware pans, wrapped in mud, then burned. The ashes are used for Damp/Serum diseases in Tibet.

Main Combinations:



Major Formulas:



Cautions:


None noted

Main Preparations used: