Witnessed by: TCM · Western
Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), of the Lythraceae family. Erect perennial of wet ground with square stems and long spikes of purple flowers; native range: Europe, Asia and North Africa; naturalised in wetlands worldwide. Globally recognized as qian qu cai (千屈菜) in Chinese, and purple loosestrife, spiked loosestrife, purple willow-herb in English. The part used is flowering aerial parts. Willow-like leaves and dense purple flower-spikes; the herb is dry, coldly astringent and puckering to the mouth, without aroma.
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.
PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- purple loosestrife
- Scientific name
- Lythrum salicaria L.
- Family
- Lythraceae
Form
- Part used
- flowering aerial parts
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter
- Western
- astringent · bitter
Temperature
TCM: cold
Western: cool
convergence: both {witness_count} witnesses converge — a cool, astringent, flux-checking herb in each
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Large Intestine
- Western
- intestines · bowels
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears heat, cools the blood, checks dysentery and bleeding, and astringes
- Western
- astringent, styptic, antidiarrhoeal and vulnerary, and cooling
Cautions
- Contraindications
- constipation and cold-deficient conditions where astringency is unwanted
- Toxicity
- no significant toxicity recorded
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