Sophora japonica Flos, Huai Mi 槐米

Sophora japonica Fructus, Huai Jiao 槐角

 Picture
Japanese Pagoda tree, Chinese Scholar tree
Pagoda tree flower bud: Huai Mi
Pagoda tree flower: Huai Hua
Pagoda tree fruit: Huai Jiao
Picture Sophora japonica
Jaume Saint-Hilaire, J.H., Traité des arbres forestiers (1824)

Picture Sophora japonica flower
(Photo by Penarc) (Wikimedia)

Botanical name:


Sophora japonica (syn. Styphnolobium japonicum)

Parts used:


Flower Bud, Flower, Fruit

Temperature & Taste:


Cool, dry. Bitter. Fruit is coldest

Classification:


L. Stop Bleeding

Uses:


1. Cools the Blood, Stops Bleeding:
-Hemoptysis, Uterine Bleeding, Nose bleeding from Heat
-especially Bleeding from the Bowels, Damp-Heat Diarrhea or Dysentery with Blood, and Bleeding Hemorrhoids
-Buds, Flowers and Fruit are all used for bleeding from the Bowels and bleeding Hemorrhoids. The fruit is more specific, the Buds and Flowers have a more broad-spectrum hemostatic effect.

2. Clears Liver Heat:
-Headache, Dizziness, Vertigo, Irritability
-Red, Sore and Tearing Eyes from Liver Heat or Wind-Heat
-Hypertension
-Genital sores with itching (Fruit)
-Buds, Flowers and Fruits can be used for this function.

3. Benefits Liver Blood and Yin: (Fruit)
-Fruit has a secondary function of nourishing Liver Yin and Blood
-Nourishes the Eyes
-helps prevent Hair from greying


Dose:


Buds or Flowers should be added at the end of decocting.
Bud or Flower in Decoction: 5–9 grams
Fruit in Decoction: 6–9 grams (up to 15 grams)

Comment:


1. Both the Flower and Flower bud (Huai Mi) have the same functions but the bud and flower are stronger to stop Bleeding while the fruit is stronger to clear Liver Heat. In addition, the Fruit has traditionally been regarded as having mild tonic properties for Liver Yin and Blood.
2. Flower buds are an extremely rich source of rutin (16–23% when dried) and is also a good source of quercetin.
3. Legumes, Roots and Stalks of Sophora japonica are also used medicinally, although rarely.

Preparation:


1. Dry Fried Flower / Flower buds:
  The buds or flowers are dry fried until yellowish. This makes them less Cold, reduces their bitterness while enhancing their ability to stop bleeding. This is therefore best for those with bleeding disorders from Spleen and Stomach weakness. The Buds / Flowers can also be stir-fried until scorched until brown-black, then sprayed with water to stop the burning, then dried. This is even stronger to stop Bleeding but doesn’t clear Heat.
2. Dry-Fried Fruit:
  Dry-fried until yellowish, the fruit is less cold so is better for digestive weakness.
3. Daoist preparation of the Fruit:
  ‘soak them thoroughly in a cow’s gall bladder for 100 days. Dry them in the dark. Each day swallow a piece. In ten days the body will be light. In 20 days one’s white hair will become dark again. In 100 days one will have communication with the spirits.’ (A Soup for the Qan, Hu Sihui et al. 2010)

Main Combinations:


1. Bleeding in general:
i. Sophora japonica bud with Platycadus Ce Bai Ye
2. Bleeding from the Bowels, Blood in the Stool:
i. Sophora japonica bud, Agrimony (Xian He Cao)
i. from Heat, Damp-Heat or Heat and Toxin, Sophora japonica bud, Scutellaria Huang Qin
ii. from Heat, Sophora japonica bud with Gardenia Zhi Zi
iii. from Wind, Sophora japonica bud with Schizonepeta Jing Jie,
iv. Bleeding from the Bowels or Bleeding Hemorrhoids from Damp-Heat or Heat and Toxin, Sophora japonica fruit, Burnet root (Di Yu), Scutellaria Huang Qin
v. from Damp-Heat with Fever, Sophora japonica bud (dry-fried), Rehmannia Sheng Di Huang, Burnet root charred (Di Yu), Platycadus Ce Bai Ye (Barefoot Doctors Manual)
3. Hemorrhoids, Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis from Damp-Heat with Bleeding, Sophora japonica bud, Dang Gui, Agrimony (Xian He Cao), Notoginseng San Qi, Burnet (Di Yu), Frankincense (Ru Xiang) (as in the patent medicine Hua Zhi Ling Tablet)
4. Hemorrhoids:
i. Sophora japonica bud, Notoginseng San Qi, Burnet (Di Yu), Scutellaria Huang Qin, Corydalis Yan Hu Suo (as in the patent medicine Fargelin)
ii. Sophora japonica bud, Burnet (Di Yu), Amber (Hu Po), Borneo Camphor (Bing Pian), Oyster shell (Mu Li) topically as an ointment.
5. Headache, Dizziness, Red Eyes:
i. Sophora japonica bud, Self Heal (Xia Ku Cao), Chrysanthemum Ju Hua
ii. Sophor japonica bud, Siegsbeckia Xi Xian Cao
6. Liver Heat Hypertension:
i. Sophora japonica bud, Self Heal (Xia Ku Cao), Chrysanthemum Ju Hua
ii. Sophora japonica fruit, Scutellaria Huang Qin, Cassia semen Jue Ming Zi, Self Heal (Xia Ku Cao),
iii. Sophora japonica fruit, Self Heal (Xia Ku Cao), Mistletoe (Sang Ji Sheng)

Major Formulas:


Huai Jiao Wan

Cautions:


1. Avoid use in those with Cold and Weakness of the Stomach and Spleen (Digestion).
2. Fruit is not used during Pregnancy.
3. Use cautiously in those with Liver disease.

Toxicity:


Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness and changes in Liver function have been reported. Severe cases may lead to spasms and coma.

Main Preparations used:



  • Extra Info
  • Research
GENERAL / REVIEW
–Local and traditional uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of Sophora japonica L.: A review.