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Meconopsis, Ut pal ཨུཏ་པལ

Ut Pal (Tibetan)
Lu Rong Hao (TCM)
Meconopsis paniculata
Curtis’s Botanical Magazine 1852
Meconopsis punicea
Curtis’s Botanical Magazine 1907
Meconopsis simplicifolia
(Illustrations of Himalayan Plants, Hooker, 1855)

Meconopsis grandis flower
(Photo by Hedwig Storch) (Wikimedia)

Botanical name:
Meconopsis spp.
There are 4 varieties of Ut pal: based on the color of their flower:
  1. Blue: Ut pal sngon po, ཨུཏ་པལ་སྔོན་པོ  Meconopsis torquata, M. grandis, M. quintuplinervia
  2. Red: Ut pal dmar po,  ཨུཏ་པལ་དམར་པོ  Meconopsis punicea
  3. White: Ut pal dkar po ཨུཏ་པལ་དཀར་པོ  Meconopsis spp.
  4. Yellow: Ut pal ser po ཨུཏ་པལ་སེར་པོ  Meconopsis integrifolia, M. paniculata (syn. M. wallichi)
Meconopsis simplicifolia (a blue variety) has also been stated to be a source of Ut Pal.

Parts used:
Whole herb in flower; or the Flower

Temperature & Taste:
Cool, dry. Bitter

Uses:
1. Clears Heat and Toxin:
-Fever; Fever of Infectious diseases; Chronic Fever
-Blood disorders from Heat and Toxin
-Gastroenteritis
-auxiliary medicine in some Tumors and Cancers

2. Clears Lung Heat, Stops Cough:
-Fever of the Lung or Liver
-acute Sore Throat
-Tuberculosis, Pneumonia

3. Clears Heat and Damp:
-Edema from Heat
-Leukorrhea

4. Clears Liver Heat:
-Hepatitis
-Fever from Liver Heat
-Headache, Hypertension
-has a sedative effect


DOSE:
1–3 grams in Powder

COMMENT:
1. Meconopsis species are very varied and hybridise readily. It is now believed some species may be varieties rather than distinct species.
2. Other species of Meconopsis used in Tibetan Medicine (with different functions) include M. horridula (Tsher Sngon) and M. racemosa (A Byag Tsher Sngon)
3. Meconopsis should not be confused with Water Lily which is known as Utpala in Ayurveda.

SUBSTITUTES:
1. Red Poppy has been suggested as a suitable substitute. (Gyatso)
2. Flowers of Scabiosa comosa have been used by Tibetans in Russia
3. Water Lily may be a suitable substitute in some cases. The name Ut Pal is said to be derived from the Ayurvedic Utpala which refers to Water Lily.

Main Combinations:
1. Lung Heat Cough:
i. and Asthma, Meconopsis with Tabasheer, Clove, Safflower, Pomegranate, Cinnamon, Raisin, Licorice (as in Tabasheer 9)
ii. with Hemoptysis, Meconopsis with Sandalwood, Tabasheer, Clove, Safflower, Raisin, Licorice (as in Sandalwood 8)
2. Liver Heat, Meconopsis with Bezoar, Shilajit, Safflower, Aristolchia, Swertia, Costus
3. High Fever with Delirium, Meningitis, Malaria, Meconopsis with Camphor, Clove, Tabasheer, Safflower, White Sandalwood, Rhinoceros horn (Water Buffalo horn), Aloeswood, Swertia (as in Camphor 14)
4. As a sedative, Nutmeg, Meconopsis, Indian Spikenard. This can be used for people coming off sleeping pills or anti-depressants..
5. Brain Cancer, Meconopsis with Semiaquilegia Tian Kui Zi, Ligusticum Chuan Xiong, Saffron, Pearl (Practical Anti-cancer Prescriptions)

Major Formulas:
Tabasheer 9 (Tibetan Medicine)
Sandalwood 8 (Tsan dan brgyad pa) (Tibetan Medicine)
Bezoar 9 (Gi wan 9) (Tibetan Medicine)
Camphor 14 (Tibetan Medicine)
Camphor 25 (Tibetan Medicine)
Nux Vomica 13 (Ko byi bcu gsum) (Tibetan Medicine)
Emblic 25 (Skyu ru nyer lnga) (Tibetan Medicine)
Aloeswood 31 (Tibetan Medicine)
Aloeswood 35 (Tibetan Medicine)
Rolled Turquoise 13 (Gyu dril 13) (Ribetan Medicine)
Crystal Moon 37 (Zla shel so bdun) (Tibetan Medicine)

Cautions:
None noted

Main Preparations used: