Xiang Ru
English Name: elsholtzia, aromatic madder
Pharmaceutical name: Herba Elsholtziae seu Moslae
Medica Category: Wind-Cold Releasing Herbs
Properties: Xiang Ru enters the Lung and Stomach channels; it is acrid in nature and slightly warm in temperature.
What is Xiang Ru?:
The Chinese Herb Xiang Ru derives from one of two species of plants in the Elsholtzia genus of plants (in the Lamiaceae (mint) family) that grows across vast regions of Asia (from Siberia down into the south of China). For use as medicine as a Chinese Herb, the aerial parts of the plants Mosla chinensis Maxim. or Mosla chinensis Maxim. are harvested when the plant is in flower, lush and fragrant, and cut into slices (but otherwise unprocessed.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Therapeutic Actions of Xiang Ru:
Xiang Ru helps to expel wind-cold contracted when cooling down after spending time in hot and humid summer weather. It is also used to eliminate dampness and harmonize the middle (i.e. address complaints of nausea/upset stomach and vomiting) in the same sort of hot and humid summer days.