Gu Jing Cao
English Name: eriocaulis, buerger pipewort flower
Pharmaceutical Name: Flos Eriocauli
Medica Category: Heat-Clearing and Fire-Purging Herbs
Properties: Gu Jing Cao enters the Liver and Stomach channels; it is sweet in nature and neutral in temperature.
What is Gu Jing Cao?:
Gu Jing Cao is the dried, headlike inflorescence of the buerger pipewort flower (Eriocaulon buergerianum Koern.), a wetland flower found in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces of China.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Therapeutic Actions of Gu Jing Cao:
Gu Jing Cao disperses wind and heat in the Liver channel to brighten the eyes and remove superficial visual obstructions, clinical manifestions of which include photophobia, excessive tearing, redness and swelling, itching, floaters, and pterygium (eye web).
Gu Jing Cao addresses headache, toothache, and sore throat associated with wind-heat conditions.