Arborvitae Leafy Twig (Biota Leaf) cè bǎi yè · 侧柏叶

Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco (leafy twigs)

Nature and flavour. Bitter and astringent, cold; Lung, Liver and Large Intestine systems.

Classed as cooling the blood and stopping bleeding, as transforming phlegm and stopping cough, and — in the later tradition — as promoting hair growth and darkening the hair. It is the haemostatic that is also a Lung herb: the classical sources record it for cough with blood-streaked sputum and for the hot, thick phlegm presentations, which is unusual among herbs classed primarily for bleeding. The hair use is the one most people outside the tradition have met, usually as a wash or a tincture applied to the scalp; it belongs to the traditional record and is not supported by clinical evidence.