Blackberry lily, the herb that brings Fire down

She Gan, blackberry lily root, bears one of the most enigmatic names in the Chinese pharmacopoeia: it comes not from a medical book but from an image by Xunzi, that of a short-stemmed plant that looks tall because it grows at the top of a cliff. Its other names explain themselves: Wu Shan, “the crow’s fan”, or Feng Yi, “the phoenix wing”, all inspired by its sword-shaped leaves, arranged in a single plane like the blades of a fan. This perennial of the iris family (Iris domestica, formerly Belamcanda chinensis), with a stout, bright yellow rhizome, bears orange flowers speckled with purple-black spots in June and July. Hubei has long been the benchmark: its quality has its own name, Han She Gan, reputed to be firm and a good yellow.

Clearing Heat, bringing Fire down

In traditional Chinese medicine, She Gan is cold, bitter in flavour, and enters only one meridian, that of the Lung. The bitter descends and dries; combined with cold, it gives a herb that removes Heat and carries everything downwards, in a single movement. Its first action, according to tradition, is to clear Heat from the Lung and from what opens above it; the classical texts have always linked it to this upper region of the Lung. Li Shizhen gave the key: She Gan brings Fire down, and all its uses follow from this.

Dissolving Phlegm, setting the Qi back on course

Tradition also entrusts it with thick, sticky Phlegm that clings and no longer moves: its bitterness dries it and carries it downwards. When the Lung Qi rises against its course instead of descending, it sets it back on course, and the Phlegm leaves with it: it is the same movement. Platycodon, by contrast, makes the Lung Qi rise: the two go in opposite directions, and tradition combines them rather than substituting one for the other. With burdock seeds, it forms a classic pair, burdock opening the Lung through the surface, She Gan bringing things down from within.

Key benefits

Cleared Heat & Fire Brought Down

Cold and bitter, She Gan clears Lung Heat according to tradition, by bringing Fire down.

Lung Qi in Order & Dissolved Phlegm

It accompanies the circulation of Qi by restoring the downward direction of the Lung Qi, and the Phlegm leaves with it, according to Chinese tradition.

Coolness & Soothing Sensation

Its cold nature brings a cool, soothing sensation, in a single meridian, that of the Lung.