Spatholobus Vine

The woody vine of Spatholobus suberectus, a climbing plant of the tropical forests of southern China.

Its name 鸡血藤, “the chicken-blood vine”, comes from a remarkable phenomenon: cut fresh, the vine sheds a blood-red sap that runs slowly, a telling visual signature of what usage attaches to the Blood.

Harvested in autumn, cut into thick rounds that show concentric reddish-brown rings, dried at low temperature.

A remarkable herb, for it joins two actions usually held apart: it enriches the Blood and sets it moving at the same time.

Traditionally used for constitutions of deficient Blood with stagnation (a mixed constitution common among the elderly or those under rebuilding), when Wind-Dampness settles into the frame (Jin Gu) over time, or within the register of the harmony of the Blood’s rhythms in women where a share of emptiness is present.

• Decoction: 9 to 15 g, simmer for 30 to 40 minutes
• A supplementing particularity: rare among the moving herbs: Ji Xue Teng can be used with weakened constitutions without risk of further depletion
• Traditional cooking: slices simmered in supplementing broths for older constitutions