Xian Feng Cao咸丰草
Herba Bidentis · Beggarticks · Hairy Beggarticks · Spanish Needles
Overview
The whole aerial plant of Bidents — a white-rayed roadside daisy whose barbed seeds stick to clothing, which is how most people meet it. It is a folk herb of Taiwan and southern China rather than a classical one, and it is used there with an unusual breadth: bitter and cool, decocted for feverish colds and sore throat, for hot diarrhoea, for damp-heat urinary discomfort, for liver-related complaints, and applied fresh to bruises, insect bites and sores. It is widely drunk as a cooling herbal tea in Taiwan, and the fact that it is so casually available is exactly why its cautions are worth stating.
Nature & Flavor
Bitter · CoolChannels
Lung · Liver · Large IntestineTypical Dosage
15–30 g of the dried herb in decoction; fresh plant mashed for topical useActions
4 core actions
- Clears heat, resolves toxinFeverish colds, sore swollen throat, mouth ulcers, and hot painful boils and sores.
- Drains damp, cools the intestinesDamp-heat diarrhoea and dysentery-type stools, and scanty hot urination.
- Disperses stasis, reduces swellingBruises, sprains, insect bites and stings — the fresh plant mashed and laid over the area.
- A regional folk herbWell established in Taiwanese folk use and commonly sold as a cooling tea, but absent from the Chinese Pharmacopoeia and with limited modern safety data; keep courses short and doses conservative.
In Formulas
Formulas containing Xian Feng Cao
No published formula lists this herb yet — the library is growing.
Indications & Clinical Uses
- Feverish colds, sore throat and mouth ulcers
- Damp-heat diarrhoea and dysentery-type stools
- Scanty, hot urination with damp-heat
- Bruises, sprains, insect bites and sores, applied fresh
Western Medical Keywords
Searchable condition terms
Contraindications
Cautions
Cool and draining, so it is unsuitable for a cold, weak Spleen with chronic loose stools, and for frail or depleted patients — the fact that it is sold as an everyday tea does not make continuous use appropriate. It is an Asteraceae plant, so anyone allergic to daisies, chrysanthemum, ragweed or similar composites may react to it. As a folk rather than pharmacopoeial herb it has little published interaction or quality data; tell both practitioners if you are on prescription medication, particularly anticoagulants or glucose-lowering drugs. Persistent fever, jaundice or bloody stools require medical assessment rather than more tea.
Contraindicated in pregnancy: Safety in pregnancy has not been established for this folk herb — avoid it in pregnancy unless a practitioner has specifically indicated it.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only
References
- 《中华本草》 (modern comprehensive materia medica).
2. Taiwanese folk materia medica; not listed in 《中华人民共和国药典》.
3. Draft entry describing regional usage; pending practitioner review.
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.