Witnessed by: TCM
Mountain pepper (Litsea cubeba), of the Lauraceae family. Deciduous shrub or small tree of hill forest margins, aromatic in every part; native range: hill forests and open slopes of southern China, and south through Indochina to the eastern Himalaya. Globally recognized as bi cheng qie (蓽澄茄); shan ji jiao (山雞椒) in Chinese, and mountain pepper, may chang, litsea berry in English. The part used is ripe fruit. Small round blackish-brown fruits, wrinkled when dry, giving a bright lemon-ginger scent when crushed, the taste pungent and warm.
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.
MOUNTAIN PEPPER
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- mountain pepper
- Scientific name
- Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers.
- Family
- Lauraceae
Form
- Part used
- ripe fruit
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- pungent
Temperature
- TCM
- warm
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Spleen · Stomach · Kidney · Bladder
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- warms the middle burner and disperses cold, moves qi and stops pain, warms the Kidney and disperses cold from the Bladder
Cautions
- Contraindications
- yin deficiency with heat signs, and any pattern of internal heat
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