Straight Ladybell Root (sha shen) 

Radix Adenophorae Strictae

Properties: The herb is sweet and slightly bitter in flavour, slightly cold in nature and acts on the lung and stomach channels. Sweet in flavour, moist in nature, bitter and cold for nourishing Yin and clearing heat, the herb can not only clear lung-heat and nourish lung-yin but also clear stomach-heat and nourish stomach-yin. It is indicated for dry cough due to impairment of Yin cased by dryness in the lung, for thirst due to consumption of the body fluid caused by febrile disease, and for other syndromes.

Effects: Nourishing Yin to clear heat from the lung, and tonifying the stomach to promote the production of the body fluid.

Indications:

1. The herb is often used in combination with ophiopogon root, trichosanthes root, anemarrrhena rhizome and other herbs for nourishing Yin and clearing heat from the lung, to treat impairment of Yin caused by dryness in the lung with symptoms of dry cough with little sputum, dry mouth and thirst; and with anemarrhena rhizome, fritillary bulb, ophiopogon root, biota tops, dried rehmannia root and other herbs for nourishing Yin and moistening dryness, to treat hemoptysis due to consumptive disease.

2. To treat deficiency of the stomach-yin with symptoms of dry mouth, thirst, red tongue, little saliva and anorexia, the herb is often used in combination with fragrant solomnseal rhizome, ophiopogon root, dried rehmannia root and other herbs for promoting the production of the body fluid to quench thirst, such as Yiwei Decoction.

Dosage and Administration: 10-20g. Glehnia root is good at tonifying Yin, while adenophora root also invigorate Qi and resolve phlegm.

Precautions: It is antagonistic to veratrum root.