Witnessed by: TCM
Japanese thistle (Cirsium japonicum), of the Asteraceae family. Spiny erect perennial of waste ground and field margins; native range: fields and roadsides throughout China, Japan and Korea. Globally recognized as da ji (大薊) in Chinese, and greater thistle, tiger thistle in English. The part used is aerial parts and root. Coarse prickly leaves and purple flower heads, cool and bitter, slightly sweet in decoction.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
JAPANESE THISTLE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Japanese thistle
- Scientific name
- Cirsium japonicum DC.
- Family
- Asteraceae
Form
- Part used
- aerial parts and root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet · bitter
Temperature
- TCM
- cool
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Heart · Liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- cools the blood and stops bleeding, resolves toxicity and reduces swelling, disperses blood stasis
Cautions
- Contraindications
- contraindicated in Spleen-Stomach deficiency cold and in bleeding without heat signs
- Toxicity
- no significant toxicity at usual doses
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