Xiang Fu, “the fragrant appendage”

Xiang Fu means “the fragrant appendage”: the name describes the small aromatic tubers attached to the underground rhizomes of nutgrass, Cyperus rotundus. Crushed, they smell of a slightly peppery spice. This small perennial with a triangular stem has become one of the most invasive weeds in the world, and its tuber has a long history outside China, from ancient Egypt to Ayurvedic India. It is harvested in autumn, when it is richest in essential oil; its benchmark origins are Shandong and Zhejiang. A good tuber is firm, dark brown and marked with six to ten rings, and it is its fragrance that defines its quality.

Unknotting Liver Qi

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, nutgrass is neutral, with a pungent, slightly bitter and slightly sweet flavour. Li Shizhen broke these qualities down one by one: fragrant, it penetrates; pungent, it disperses; a little bitter, it makes things descend; a little sweet, it harmonises. Its neutrality is an asset, as it adds neither heat nor cold. Tradition holds it to be the foremost plant for Liver Qi: the Liver ensures that Qi flows freely and, when thwarted, lets it become knotted. Nutgrass disperses this knot. It also enters the Spleen and sets Qi moving again in the Middle, when a knotted Liver spills over onto the Spleen and Stomach.

Qi that carries Blood along

Tradition describes it as a Qi plant that acts within the Blood: freely flowing Qi carries Blood along, and by unknotting Liver Qi, nutgrass lets Blood resume its course. Hence its place in so many formulas of the feminine sphere, often alongside Chinese angelica, which nourishes Blood while nutgrass clears the obstacle. The vinegar-processed form, the most widely used, directs it more surely to the Liver. Neither hot nor cold, gentler than green tangerine peel, it suits Qi that has long been knotted.