Witnessed by: Unani
Larch agaric (Fomitopsis officinalis), of the Fomitopsidaceae family. A perennial hoof- to column-shaped bracket (conk) fruiting from the wood of living conifers; native range: on the trunks of larch and other conifers in the mountain forests of Europe, Siberia and North America. Globally recognized as ghariqoon in Arabic/Urdu, and larch agaric, white agaric, quinine conk, agarikon in English. The part used is the dried fruiting body, the soft chalky inner flesh preferred. Light, chalky-white and crumbling within a harder rind, intensely and lingeringly bitter with a faint sweetish start.
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.
LARCH AGARIC
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- larch agaric
- Scientific name
- Fomitopsis officinalis (Vill.) Bondartsev & Singer
- Family
- Fomitopsidaceae
Form
- Part used
- the dried fruiting body, the soft chalky inner flesh preferred
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Unani
- bitter
Temperature
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- stomach · intestines · lungs
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Unani
- mus'hil-e-balgham wa sauda (purges phlegm and black bile), munaqqi (detergent), muhallil (resolvent), mudirr (emmenagogue and diuretic), daf-e-sumoom (antidote to poisons)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- hot and dry temperaments; weakness and emaciation; pregnancy
- Toxicity
- large doses gripe and violently purge, and may irritate the stomach and provoke vomiting
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