Witnessed by: TCM · Unani
Chinese boxthorn (Lycium chinense), of the Solanaceae family. Thorny deciduous shrub with arching branches and small purple flowers; native range: East Asia; the boxthorn genus widespread across warm temperate regions of Asia and the Mediterranean. Globally recognized as di gu pi (地骨皮) in Chinese, awsaj (عوسج) in Arabic, and lycium root bark, wolfberry, matrimony vine in English. The part used is root bark (di gu pi in the Chinese use); root, leaf and fruit in the Unani use. Curled quills of pale yellow-brown root bark, light and brittle, with a faint sweetness and a bland, slightly bitter, cooling taste.
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.
CHINESE BOXTHORN
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Chinese boxthorn
- Scientific name
- Lycium chinense Mill.
- Family
- Solanaceae
Form
- Part used
- root bark (di gu pi in the Chinese use); root, leaf and fruit in the Unani use
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet · bland
- Unani
- astringent · sour
Temperature
TCM: cold
Unani: cold (and dry)
convergence: both {witness_count} witnesses converge — a cold remedy, cooling deep heat in each
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Kidney · Liver
- Unani
- blood · intestines
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- cools the blood, clears deficiency heat and steaming-bone fever, drains heat from the lung and stops bleeding
- Unani
- qabiz (astringent), habis-ud-dam (styptic) and mujaffif (desiccant), cooling and drying
Cautions
- Contraindications
- spleen deficiency with loose stools and no heat, and exterior wind-cold fevers
- Toxicity
- well tolerated in ordinary doses
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.