Water plantain - 泽泻 (Ze Xie)
Water Plantain Rhizome
泽泻
Ze Xie·Plantain d’eau
Alismatis Rhizoma
- Traced and verified origin
- Dispatched within 24/48h, packed to order
- Kept away from light and moisture
According to the classical texts
利水渗湿 泄热
Pinyin
Li Shui Shen Shi · Xie Re
Overview
The fleshy rhizome of Alisma orientale, an aquatic plant of the marshes and paddy fields of Asia.
Lifted at the end of autumn or in winter, the outer bark is removed, then the rhizome is dried and cut into rounds of a yellowish white.
Its name Ze Xie means “the marsh that flows away” — a telling signature of the register the tradition gives it, that of freeing the fluids. A light sweet-bitter savour, a discreet scent.
Traditional uses
The reference herb for carrying off the Dampness settled in the lower part of the body, particularly when that Dampness makes constitutions of Heat-Dampness or of fluid retention.
Traditionally used in the freeing blends turned towards the Water Phase.
Also to quiet an empty heat in the Water Phase when it shows with a share of retention.
Preparation and traditional-use quantity
- Decoction: 6 to 10 g, simmer for 25 minutes
- Liu Wei Di Huang Wan: one of the six components — it brings the freeing side that offsets the supplementing of the Yin
- Wu Ling San: “the powder of the five elements”, with Fu Ling, Zhu Ling, Bai Zhu and Gui Zhi, for retention of the Liquids
Precautions
To be avoided in cases of deficient without Dampness or where the work of transformation is much weakened (its freeing action can exhaust constitutions of emptiness).
