Knowledge Base/Herbs/Adenophora Root
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补虚药·补阴 · Tonic (yin-nourishing)

Adenophora Root nán shā shēn · 南沙参

Adenophora stricta and Adenophora tetraphylla (Adenophorae Radix)

Nature and flavour. Sweet and slightly cold; Lung and Stomach systems.

In modern Chinese materia medica this is classed among the yin-nourishing tonics, though its classical description also includes dissolving phlegm — which is why it is listed alongside the cough-and-wheezing drugs. Traditionally described as nourishing yin and clearing the Lung, as dissolving phlegm and augmenting Qi, and as generating fluid to benefit the Stomach. Recorded for dry cough of the yin-deficiency type with scanty, sticky phlegm, for chronic 'consumptive' cough, and for dry mouth and thirst attributed to Stomach yin deficiency.

性味归经。甘，微寒；归肺、胃经。

现代中药学将其归入补阴药，但传统记载同时包括化痰之功，故与止咳平喘药并论。传统表述为养阴清肺、化痰益气、益胃生津。古籍用于阴虚燥咳、痰少而黏、劳嗽久咳，以及胃阴不足之口干口渴。

Classical category · no formulas, no dosages, no herb-drug combinations are given.
Safety. Slightly cold and moistening — classically unsuitable for cough of the cold-phlegm type. It is listed among the 'various shen' that classical texts say oppose Veratrum (藜芦), so the two are not combined; whether that reflects a real interaction is not established. The name here is the main caution: 南沙参 is Adenophora root, while 北沙参 is a different plant entirely, the root of Glehnia littoralis. The two are described differently in traditional sources and are not interchangeable, so which one a supplier means should be confirmed before buying — and the bare term '沙参' carries exactly the same ambiguity. Safety in pregnancy and breastfeeding is not established.

微寒而润，传统认为寒痰咳嗽者不宜。传统「十八反」将其列入「诸参辛芍叛藜芦」，与藜芦相反、不宜配伍；是否为真实相互作用未被证实。此处的要害在名称：南沙参为桔梗科沙参属的根，北沙参则为伞形科珊瑚菜的根，来源植物完全不同，传统记载亦有差异，不可互替，采购前应确认所指为何 —— 单写「沙参」同样存在这一歧义。孕期与哺乳期安全性未确立。

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