Witnessed by: TCM

Japanese pond lily (Nuphar japonicum), of the Nymphaeaceae family. Aquatic perennial rooted in mud, with a stout creeping rhizome, floating and submerged leaves, and a cupped yellow flower held above the water; native range: still and slow water — ponds, ditches and paddy margins — through Japan and into Korea and China. Globally recognized as senkotsu (川骨) · kōhone (河骨) in Japanese, chuan gu (川骨) · ping peng cao in Chinese, and Japanese pond lily · Japanese spatterdock in English. The part used is the rhizome. Thick, whitish, transversely cut slices marked with the scars of old leaf-stalks, light and spongy and easily broken; nearly scentless, the taste faintly bitter and slimy.

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.

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