Herb Name: Lian Qiao (Forsythia Suspensa)
Aliases: Lian Ke, Huang Hua Tiao, Huang Lian Tiao
Harvesting and Processing: Lian Qiao flowers and fruits after 3-4 years of planting. There are two types for medicinal use: “Qing Qiao” and “Lao Qiao.” Qing Qiao is harvested in early September when the fruit skin is still green and unripe, briefly boiled in hot water or steamed for about 0.5 hours, then dried. Lao Qiao is harvested in early October when the fruit is fully ripe and yellow, and the fruit shell splits open, then dried and seeds and impurities are screened out.
Medicinal Parts: Fruits
Production Areas: Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Sichuan, etc.
Family: Oleaceae
Plant Description: Deciduous shrub
Young branches are yellowish-brown or gray-brown, slightly quadrangular, sparsely dotted with lenticels, with hollow internodes and solid pith at the nodes.
Leaves are usually simple or 3-lobed to 3-pinnate; petioles are 0.8-1.5 cm long, hairless; leaf blades are ovate, broad-ovate, or elliptic-ovate to elliptic, 2-10 cm long and 1.5-5 cm wide, with a sharp tip and a rounded to wedge-shaped base, serrated or coarsely serrated along the margin except at the base.
Flowers are usually solitary or in clusters of 2 to several in leaf axils, blooming before the leaves; flower stalks are 5-6 mm long; calyx is green with 4 lobes, long oval or oval-shaped, with fringed edges; corolla is yellow with 4 lobes, obovate-elliptic, 1.2-2 cm long and 6-10 mm wide; there are 2 stamens attached at the base of the corolla tube; the style is slender with a bifid stigma.
Capsules are ovoid, 2-celled, 1.2-2.5 cm long and 0.6-1.2 cm wide, with a beak-like tip; the surface is sparsely dotted with tubercles; the fruit stalk is 0.7-1.5 cm long. Flowering period is from March to April, and fruiting period is from July to September.
Lian Qiao medicinal characteristics: The fruit is elongated oval to oval, slightly flattened, 1-2.5 cm long and 0.5-1.3 cm in diameter. “Lao Qiao” often splits from the tip, slightly curling outward or splitting into two lobes, with a fruit stalk or its scar at the base. The outer surface of the fruit is yellow-brown with irregular longitudinal wrinkles and numerous raised pale yellow tubercles, fewer tubercles at the base, and a central longitudinal groove; the inner surface is pale yellow-brown, smooth, slightly glossy, with a central septum, and most seeds have fallen off. The fruit skin is hard and brittle, with a flat cross-section.
“Qing Qiao” usually does not split open, with a green-brown surface, fewer tubercles, often with a fruit stalk at the base, containing many seeds, lanceolate, slightly curved, about 0.7 cm long and 0.2 cm wide, brown on one side with a narrow wing. The aroma is faint, and the taste is bitter.
Lian Qiao Medicinal Properties:
【Ben Jing Lower Grade】 Lian Qiao is bitter and neutral. It is used for cold and heat, mouse fistula, scrofula, abscesses, goiter, and heat toxin. Other names include Yi Qiao, Lan Hua, Zhe Gen, Zhi, and San Lian.
Bitter in taste, cool in nature, it enters the Foot Taiyin Spleen and Foot Yangming Bladder meridians. It clears heat and reduces fire, promotes urination and drains dampness. Lian Qiao clears the heart and drains fire, promotes urination and relieves strangury, effectively removes heat and toxins, especially good at promoting blood circulation and regulating menstruation, cooling the blood and dispersing masses, treating abscesses and goiter, and excels at reducing swelling and draining pus.
【Original Text from Ben Jing】 Also known as Yi Qiao, Lan Hua, Zhe Gen, Zhi, and San Lian. Bitter in taste, neutral, non-toxic. Treats cold and heat, mouse fistula, scrofula, abscesses, evil sores, goiter, and heat toxin. Grows in valleys.【Production Area】 Grows in valleys and marshy areas, found everywhere, with those from Sichuan being the best.【Nature and Taste】 Bitter and pungent, neutral, non-toxic.【Indications】 Lian Qiao is a key herb for dispersing masses and clearing heat, used for ulcers, can clear heat and detoxify, reduce swelling and drain pus, disperse blood stasis and qi stagnation, remove heat from the upper jiao, and promote urination.【Additional Notes】 Removes white worms.【Zhen Quan】 Promotes urination for the five lin, treats urinary retention, and removes heat from the heart.【Da Ming】 Unblocks the small intestine, drains pus, treats sores and boils, relieves pain, and regulates menstruation.【Dan Xi】 Drains heart fire, removes damp-heat from the spleen and stomach, treats blood disorders in the middle jiao.【Dong Yuan】 Disperses blood stasis and qi stagnation, reduces swelling.【Rong Chuan】 Lian Qiao also resembles the pericardium, being light and ascending, with a bitter taste, thus it ascends and clears heat from the heart and upper jiao, and as it lacks pungent dispersing properties, it does not primarily disperse.【Ling Tai】 Disperses stagnant fire, treats ulcers.【Ni’s Note】 This herb is often used with Jin Hua (Honeysuckle), both having a clear and light quality, both can ascend the clear qi.【Dosage】 Generally 3-9 grams.【Contraindications】 Lian Qiao is a clearing and non-tonifying herb, contraindicated for abscesses that have already ruptured and for prolonged conditions, heat due to deficiency, and those with weak spleen and stomach.【Nature and Taste】 Bitter, slightly cold. 【Meridian Entry】 Enters the Lung, Heart, and Small Intestine meridians. 【Functions and Indications】 Clears heat and detoxifies, reduces swelling and disperses masses. Used for abscesses, scrofula, mastitis, erysipelas, wind-heat colds, initial stages of warm diseases, heat entering the nutrient level, high fever with thirst, delirium with rashes, and heat lin with urinary obstruction. 【Dosage】 6-15 grams. 【Storage】 Keep in a dry place.【Remarks】 (1) Lian Qiao is cool and bitter, light and clear, can treat various heat in the upper jiao, especially effective in detoxifying and dispersing abscesses, thus it is a key herb for ulcers.(2) This herb is often paired with Jin Hua, Bo He (Mint), Jing Jie (Schizonepeta), and Gan Cao (Licorice) to disperse wind and clear heat; with Xuan Shen (Scrophularia), Mai Dong (Ophiopogon), Qing Lian Xin (Lotus Plumule), and Zhu Ye (Bamboo Leaf) to clear the heart and drain heat; with Jin Hua, Pu Gong Ying (Dandelion), Zi Hua Di Ding (Viola), and Chi Shao (Red Peony) to detoxify and disperse abscesses; with Xuan Shen, Xia Ku Cao (Selfheal), and Bei Mu (Fritillaria) to disperse masses and treat scrofula.(3) Both Jin Hua and Lian Qiao have excellent heat-clearing and detoxifying effects, capable of reaching the surface and clearing internal heat, thus they are often used together in clinical practice. However, Jin Hua can also cool the blood and stop dysentery, while Lian Qiao can clear heart heat and disperse masses.(4) In the past, this herb was divided into Lian Qiao Ke (fruit) and Lian Qiao Xin (seeds), with Lian Qiao Xin considered to have better heart-clearing properties. Currently, in the Shanghai area, it has been simplified to one type of Lian Qiao, no longer divided into two herbs.【Dosage】 For internal use: decoction, 6-15 grams; or in pills or powders.【Cautions】 1. Those with weak spleen and stomach, qi deficiency with fever, and abscesses that have ruptured, with thin and pale pus should avoid using.2. According to the “Ben Cao Jing Shu”: Do not use for abscesses that have ruptured, for heat due to deficiency, and for those with weak spleen and stomach prone to diarrhea.【Various Discussions】 1. “Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing”: Treats cold and heat, mouse atrophy, scrofula, abscesses, evil sores, goiter, and heat toxin.2. “Ming Yi Bie Lu”: Removes white worms.3. “Yao Xing Lun”: Treats urinary retention, promotes urination, and removes heat from the heart.4. “Ri Hua Zi Ben Cao”: Unblocks the small intestine, drains pus, treats sores and boils, relieves pain, and regulates menstruation.5. Li Gao: Disperses blood stasis and qi stagnation; reduces swelling.6. Wang Hao Gu: Treats deafness and tinnitus.