Selaginella pulvinata, Chu srin sder mo ཆུ་སྲིན་སྡེར་མོ Spikemoss Chu srin sder mo (Tibetan Medicine) Juan Bai (TCM) Hatha Jodi (Ayurveda)

Selaginella tamariscina
Gartenflora [E. von Regel], vol. 28 (1879)

Selaginella tamariscina
(Photo by Jerzy Opioła) (Wikimedia)

Selaginella Juan Bai as available on the Chinese market (GuanDong)
(Adam, 2024)

Botanical name:

Selaginella spp.

1. S. pulvinata (syn. S. japonica, Lycopodium pulvinata, L. involvens) (Tibet, TCM)
2. S. tamariscina (Tibet, TCM)
3. S. rupestris (India)
4. S. wallichii (India)
5. S. willdenovii (India)

Li Shi Zhen mentioned several varieties of this herb.

Parts used:

Dried Herb, roots removed, washed and dried; carbonised to stop Bleeding

Temperature & Taste:

Neutral. Pungent

Uses:

1. Moves the Blood, Promotes Menstruation: (TCM, Ayurveda)
-Amenorrhea, Dysmenorrhea
-Hot and Cold diseases of the Uterus with pain; Infertility (Shen Nong Ben Cao)
-Abdominal masses; Blood stasis, with hardness and masses (TCM, Ayurveda)
-Cancer (anti-cancer effects demonstrated)
-promotes Labor
-used as a tonic after Childbirth (India)
-Hemorrhoids (Tibetan Medicine)
-Trauma, Bruising (TCM)
-‘treats hard mass and stagnation of blood with Amenorrhea’ (Shen Nong Ben Cao)

2. Clear Blood Stasis, Stop Bleeding: (TCM, Ayurveda)
-Hemoptysis, Blood in the Stool
-abnormal uterine bleeding, hematochezia
-prolapse of rectum; Bleeding Piles (TCM, Ayurveda)
-the carbonised herb is used for this function

3. Clears Wind-Heat, Resists Poison: (Ayurveda, TCM)
-Fever
-Skin diseases
-Lung and Urinary Infections
-Jaundice, Hepatitis
-Vertigo (Ming Yi Bie Lu)
-severe intermittent Headache (Da Ming)

4. Clears Heat, Stops Cough and Wheezing:
-Cough, Asthma (TCM)
-‘stops Coughing with Dyspnoea’ (Ming Yi Bie Lu)

5. Tonic: (TCM, Ayurveda)
-regarded as a longevity tonic (TCM, Ayurveda)
-‘enhances male sexuality and reinforces Jing (Essence)’ (Ming Yi Bie Lu)
-‘Long-term use makes one feel happy and vigorous and look younger.’ (S. tamariscina, Shen Nong Ben Cao)

Dose:

Decoction: 3–9 grams
Powder: 1–3 grams

Comment:

Related species are used in Ayurveda, TCM and TIbetan Medicine. 

Preparation:

1. Stir-fried Selaginella:
  The stir-fried drug is used to stop Bleeding
2. Salt-prepared Selaginella:
  Stew in salt water for half a day, then stew in well water, then remove and dry in the sun. This is a traditional preparation rarely used today. (Li Shi Zhen)

Main Combinations:

1. Blood int he stool, Selaginella, Astragaulus Huang Qi (equal parts). Powder, take 6 grams with rice soup. (Su Song)
2. Hemorrhoids, Selaginella. pulvinata, Holarrhena, Withania, Embelia ribes, Tribulus (Tibetan Medicine)
3. Difficult Labor, hold the drug in the mouth and swallow the juice.

Major Formulas:

Cautions:

Not used during Pregnancy

Main Preparations used:

Carbonised herb