Fu Ping – Common Duckweed – Herba Spirodelae

Fu Ping

English Name: spirodela, common duckweed

Pharmaceutical Name: Herba Spirodelae

Medica Category: Wind-Heat Releasing Herbs

Properties: Fu Ping enters the Lung and Urinary Bladder channels; it is acrid in nature and cold in temperature.

What is Fu Ping?:

The Chinese Herb Fu Ping is dried (common) duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza (L.) Schleid.), a freshwater aquatic plant that grows in clumps on the surfaces of ponds and lakes.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Therapeutic Actions of Fu Ping:

Fu Ping releases the exterior and induces diaphoresis. It also is used to vent rashes and stop itching in cases of wind attacking the skin (e.g. measles, urticaria (hives), or other rashes with itching).

Fu Ping regulates water circulation by eliminating excess water and is used for exterior syndromes accompanied by edema.