Radix Phytolaccae — the root of Phytolacca acinosa Roxb. (商陆) or of Phytolacca americana L. (美洲商陆, American pokeweed; family Phytolaccaceae).
Nature and flavour. Bitter, cold, toxic. Lung, Spleen, Kidney and Large Intestine systems.
Another drug from the drastic shelf, recorded in the sources for oedema and ascites with abdominal fullness, and used externally for swellings and sores. The classical material is vinegar-processed, and that single fact is a comment on the drug: processing is the tradition's way of saying this root is not safe as it comes out of the ground. The physiological reality behind the classical phrase expelling water is a violent purge that loses fluid, and it does nothing for the heart, kidney or liver disease that produced the fluid in the first place. There is one thing about this plant that is genuinely important in modern medicine, and it is worth stating because it says more than any safety warning could: pokeweed mitogen, extracted from Phytolacca americana, is a standard laboratory reagent used to make lymphocytes divide in immunology research. A plant whose root proteins force immune cells into division is not a plant to eat.
性味归经。苦，寒，有毒。归肺、脾、肾、大肠经。
峻烈一格里的又一味，文献记载其用于水肿、腹水兼腹满，外用治痈肿疮毒。古典用药须经醋制，单是这一点就是对这味药的评注：炮制是传统在说「这根出土时并不安全」。「逐水」这个古典说法背后的生理现实，是一次剧烈的失水；它对于最初造成积水的心、肾、肝病毫无作用。这株植物在现代医学里有一件事确实重要，值得写在这里，因为它比任何安全警告都更能说明问题：美洲商陆中提取的商陆有丝分裂原（pokeweed mitogen），是免疫学研究里促使淋巴细胞分裂的标准实验室试剂。一株根中的蛋白能迫使免疫细胞分裂的植物，不是可以吃的植物。
全株有毒，以根与新鲜植株最毒。毒性成分为商陆毒素类的皂苷，加上有丝分裂原糖蛋白。中毒起于口腔与咽喉灼痛、流涎、恶心呕吐，继而腹部绞痛伴水样有时带血的腹泻，严重者继续出现头晕、视觉异常、出汗、低血压、意识模糊、惊厥与呼吸衰竭。已有致死报告，来自鲜根、根茶与果实。儿童风险尤高，而这株植物最危险的一点是它的根被误认作可食的根——欧防风、辣根、牛蒡、人参等等——并有致死的记录；一根认不准的根，就不该吃。果实不是食物，无论某些地方的传统如何，都不该用来做墨水或果酱。药典里经过炮制的药与园子里的植株不是一回事；传统学会用炮制驯服的毒，仍然是毒。孕期一律禁用（它是传统的堕胎药），哺乳期、儿童，以及心、肾、肝病患者禁用。疑似摄入属中毒急救或急诊范畴，就医时应带上该植物。