Witnessed by: TCM · Western
Jiaogulan (Gynostemma pentaphyllum), of the Cucurbitaceae family. Slender climbing vine with five-parted toothed leaves and small greenish flowers; native range: mountain woodlands of southern China and East Asia. Globally recognized as jiao gu lan (絞股藍) in Chinese, and southern ginseng, sweet tea vine, poor man's ginseng in English. The part used is aerial parts (leaf and vine). Thin green leaves yielding a herbaceous tea, sweet at first with a lingering bitter, grassy aftertaste.
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.
JIAOGULAN
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Jiaogulan
- Scientific name
- Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunb.) Makino
- Family
- Cucurbitaceae
Form
- Part used
- aerial parts (leaf and vine)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet · bitter
- Western
- sweet · bitter
Temperature
TCM: cold
Western: cool
convergence: both {witness_count} witnesses read it as cooling — a mild heat-clearing tonic rather than a warming one
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Spleen · Lung
- Western
- immune · nervous system · circulation
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- tonifies qi, clears heat and resolves toxicity, transforms phlegm and stops cough, and calms the spirit
- Western
- adaptogen, antioxidant, hypolipidaemic, immunomodulator, cardiotonic
Cautions
- Contraindications
- cold deficient digestion with loose stool; pregnancy and lactation for want of data; autoimmune disease only under supervision
- Toxicity
- well tolerated; occasional nausea or loose stool at high dose
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