Siegesbeckia, the pungent herb with an unflattering name

Xi Xian Cao, the Chinese name for siegesbeckia, is one of the most candid in the pharmacopoeia: it reads “the pungent herb that smells of pig”. It comes from the strong smell given off by its stems and leaves, covered in glandular hairs that are slightly sticky to the touch; indeed, it is thanks to its sticky fruits that the plant travels. This annual of the daisy family, with small yellow flower heads, grows across almost all of China, on slopes, roadsides and waste ground. It is harvested in summer and autumn, preferably young, before flowering, when it is a bright, clear green.

Expelling Wind and Dampness from the joints

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the raw herb is cold, bitter and pungent in flavour. Bitterness and cold clear, pungency disperses and sets things in motion. It is associated with the Liver, which governs the tendons, and the Kidney, which governs the bones: a plant that enters both reaches the body’s framework. According to tradition, Wind and Dampness lodge in the flesh, joints and meridians and obstruct them; it expels them, frees the meridians and clears the joints. It is chosen especially when Heat is involved, where the warm plants of the same group are not suitable.

Raw or prepared, two plants in one

Its nature is not fixed. Raw, it is cold and dispersing; sprinkled with wine and steamed, it becomes warm, nourishes the Liver and Kidney and strengthens the tendons and bones. Li Shizhen settled it in one sentence: “raw, its nature is cold; prepared, it becomes warm”. The most elaborate form, steamed nine times and dried nine times, is the one for long-term use. A classical text sums up its character: “it supplements without clogging, it clears without loosening”. It pairs readily with spatholobus stem, which nourishes and moves the Blood when the blockage lasts.