Plantaginis aquatica, Water Plantain, Ze Xie 泽泻

Water Plantain
Ze Xie (TCM)

New Kreuterbuch, Matthiolus, 1563

Kurtzes Handtbuchlein, Ryff, 1599

Botanische wandplaten (1904–1914)

Flora von Deutschland, Kohler, 1886

Water Plantain root Ze Xie on the Chinese market (Adam, 2017)

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Botanical name:
Alisma plantago; A. orientalis is used in TCM

Parts used:
Root

Temperature & Taste:
Cool, neutral in respect of dry/moist (Salmon). Sweet

Classifications:
Diuretic, Arthritic, Stomachic, Astringent, Galactogogue Discutient
B. Clear Heat
C. Clear Damp, Promote Urine
TCM:
B. Clears Deficient Heat

Uses:
1. Promotes Urine, Clears Heat and Damp:
-Edema; Fluid swelling
-scanty, difficult, painful or dribbling Urine;
-acute and chronic Urinary Tract Infections;
-Diarrhea, Dysentery etc.
-Jaundice associated with Damp.
-Galen used it for Stones.
-an important diuretic in TCM, as it is said to be able to clear damp from the body without damaging the Yin (Body moisture).

2. Benefits Kidneys, Enriches Yin:
-traditionally for Diabetes-like disorders
-'It reinforces Yin, stops Seminal Emission, treats Diabetes and Stranguria' (Ming Yi Bie Lu)
-'It nourishes the 5 Viscera, strengthens the body and encourages weight gain'. (Shen Nong Ben Cao)
-'Long-term use of the drug sharpens the hearing and brightens the eye'. (Shen Nong Ben Cao)

3. Benefits the Kidneys, Clears Deficient Heat:
-Deficient Heat: symptoms include a red, dry tongue with no coating, a faint and fast pulse; maybe Dizziness, Tinnitus, and Insomnia etc. (TCM)
-chronic Kidney disorders such as Nephritis.

4. Promotes Menstruation:
-promotes Menstruation; used for Uterine disease and Hysteria (Dioscorides)
-said in old TCM texts to stimulate the female genitalia.
-leaf and rhizome are also used to stimulate Uterus, and promote Breast Milk (Porter Smith)
-in TCM for Leukorrhea, Menopause etc.
-'promotes Lactation' (Shen Nong Ben Cao)
-'Promotes delivery, tonifies the sea of blood of woman and helps Conception'. (Da Ming)
    
5. Clears Heat, Resists Poison:
-‘such as have eaten a Sea Hare, and those which are bitten of a Toad and such as have drank Opium’. (Dioscorides)
-leaves have been applied to Leprosy (Porter Smith)

6. Stops Bleeding:
-seed has been used for fluxes, dysentery; also spitting of blood, and excessive menstruation.

DOSE:
Powder: 1–3 grams
Decoction: 3–9 grams

SUBSTITUTE:
1. Water Plantain has been recommended as a substitute for Bearberry
2. Plantain seed may be used in some instances.

PREPARATION:
1. Usually used without preparation.
2. File the drug into small pieces, soak in wine overnight, then dry in the sun. (Lei Xiao)

Main Combinations:
Combined with Plantain seed to clear Damp and promote urine without damaging Yin.
Taken with Cinnamon and/or Aconitum Fu Zi to lead them to the Kidneys.

Urinary:
1. Edema with painful or obstructed Urine:
i. Water Plantain root (Ze Xie) with Plantain seed (Che Qian Zi) (TCM)
ii. Water Plantain root (Ze Xie) with Poria Fu Ling (TCM)
iii. Water Plantain root (Ze Xie) with Atractylodes Bai Zhu (TCM)
iv. Water Plantain root (Ze Xie) with Scutellaria barbata Ban Zhi Lian, Corn Silk (Yu Mi Xu)
v. Edema, fluid accumulation, Water Plantain root (Ze Xie) with Betel nut (Bing Lang)
vi. Edema with Urinary difficulty, Water Plantain root (Ze Xie) with Sargassum Hai Zao, Polyporus Zhu Ling, Plantain seed (Che Qian Zi)
vii. Water Plantain root (Ze Xie) with Poria Fu Ling, Polyporus Zhu Ling, Cinnamon twig (Gui Zhi), Atractylodes Bai Zhu (as in Wu Ling San)
2. Strangury:
i. Water Plantain root (Ze Xie) with Hedyotis Bai Hua She She Cao, Plantain seed (Che Qian Zi), Agrimony (Xian He Cao), Coptis Huang Lian (as in Long Qing Pian)
ii. from Kidney deficiency, Water Plantain root (Ze Xie) with Leek seed, Rehmannia Shu Di Huang, Job's Tears (Yi Yi Ren), Cornus Shan Zhu Yu
3. Nocturnal Enuresis, Water Plantain root with St. Johns wort

Tonic:
4. Kidney Yin deficiency, Water Plantain root (Ze Xie), with Rehmannia Shu Di, Dioscorea Shan Yao, Cornus Shan Zhu Yu, Poria Fu Ling, Paeonia Mu Dan Pi (as in Liu Wei Di Huang Wan of TCM.
5. Menopause, Water Plantain root (Ze Xie) with Polygonum Ye Jiao Teng with Rehmannia Sheng Di Huang, Paeonia Mu Dan Pi, Polygonum He Shou Wu, Mother of Pearl (Zhen Zhu Mu) (as in Geng Nian An Pian of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia)

Heat, Damp-Heat:
6. Dysentery, Water Plantain root with Carrot seed (Dioscorides)
7. Bleeding from the Stomach or Bowels, Water Plantain leaf, Marshmallow, Comfrey root, Plantain leaf, Water Agrimony leaf (The Medical Herbalist)
8. Genital Itching and foul Leukorrhea from Damp-Heat, Water Plantain root (Ze Xie) with Gentiana Long Dan Cao, Plantain seed (Che Qian Zi), Akebia Mu Tong

Other:
9. Nervous disorders, Water Plantain leaf, Plantain, Motherwort, Southernwood, Valerian (The Medical Herbalist)
10. Heart disorders with Anxiety, Water Plantain leaf, Motherwort, Plantain, Southernwood, Valerian (The Medical Herbalist)
11. Alcoholism, Water Plantain root, Atractylodes Bai Zhu. (Huang Di Nei Jing)

Major Formulas:
Liu Wei Di Huang Wan
Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan
Wu Ling San
Geng Nian An Pian
Ze Xie Tang
Da Ze Xie Tang
Xiao Zexie Tang

Cautions:
Generally Safe.
Not used for Spermatorrhea or Leukorrhea from cold and damp (unless corrected)

Main Preparations used: