Skip to content
Cura x Cura

Ma Bo马勃

Lasiosphaera seu Calvatia · Puffball

Herbs that Clear Heat 清热药《名医别录》

Overview

The dried spore mass of the giant puffball — light as felt, almost weightless in the hand. Acrid and neutral, its work is where membranes are hot and swollen: it clears Lung heat, cools a fiercely painful throat and brings back a voice that has gone. Dusted on directly, the fine spore powder stops bleeding from a shallow cut, a nosebleed or a bleeding gum, which makes it one of the few herbs used as a dry dressing. Decoct it wrapped — loose spores clog the strainer and float into the air.

Nature & Flavor

Acrid · Neutral

Channels

Lung

Typical Dosage

1.5–6 g in decoction
马勃Photography for this entry is on its way.

Actions

2 core actions

  • Clears Lung heat, benefits the throatHot, painfully swollen throat, hoarseness or complete loss of voice, cough from Lung heat.
  • Stops bleedingDusted onto a bleeding wound, nosebleed or bleeding gums; taken internally for coughing or vomiting of blood.

In Formulas

Formulas containing Ma Bo

Indications & Clinical Uses

  • Hot, painfully swollen sore throat
    - Hoarseness and loss of voice
    - Cough from Lung heat
    - Minor surface bleeding, nosebleed, bleeding gums (external)

Western Medical Keywords

Searchable condition terms

PharyngitisLaryngitisHoarsenessEpistaxisMinor bleeding

Contraindications

Cautions

Not for a cough or hoarseness arising from wind-cold, nor for a weak voice from deficiency without heat. The spores are extremely fine and easily inhaled — grind and handle it carefully, avoid raising a cloud of powder, and stop if it makes anyone cough or wheeze; people with asthma or a mould sensitivity should be especially careful, and cases of lung irritation after inhaling puffball spores are on record. Always decoct it wrapped. A throat so swollen that breathing or swallowing is difficult is an emergency, not a herbal case. Our dispensary data flags no toxicity and no allergy risk, but the inhalation point is practical rather than theoretical.

Contraindicated in pregnancy: No specific restriction — practitioner judgment applies

For licensed practitioners’ reference only

References

  1. Ming Yi Bie Lu《名医别录》 (classical source, public domain).
    2. Bensky, Clavey & Stöger. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd ed.
    3. 《中华人民共和国药典》.

Professional reference notice. Entries are scholarly references for licensed TCM practitioners and students — not medical advice, and not a recommendation to self-prescribe. Chinese herbal formulas should be used under the guidance of a qualified practitioner. Content is an original editorial compilation by Cura x Cura, cross-checked against the cited references.