Witnessed by: TCM · Unani

Black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra), of the Poaceae family. Tall running bamboo with slender canes darkening to black; native range: China; long cultivated across East and South Asia. Globally recognized as vanslochan in Hindi, zhu li (竹瀝) in Chinese, tabashir in Arabic, and black bamboo, bamboo sap, bamboo manna in English. The part used is the sap pressed by heat from the cane (TCM); the siliceous concretion within the node (Unani). The sap a clear, sweetish, faintly smoky juice; tabashir a light, bluish-white, chalky nodule, cool and bland, that clings to the tongue.

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.

BLACK BAMBOO

IDENTITY

Name

Common: Black bamboo
Scientific name: Phyllostachys nigra (Lodd. ex Lindl.) Munro
Family: Poaceae

Form

Part used: the sap pressed by heat from the cane (TCM); the siliceous concretion within the node (Unani)

PROPERTIES

Nature

Taste

how the plant declares itself on the tongue

TCM: sweet
Unani: sweet · astringent, bland and chalky

Temperature

TCM: cold

Unani: cold & dry (2nd degree)

convergence: both {witness_count} witnesses hold the bamboo's yield markedly cooling

Affinity

where in the body it travels

Organs / channels

TCM: Heart · Lung · Stomach
Unani: heart · stomach · liver

PRACTICE

Virtue

Actions

TCM: clears heat and resolves phlegm, drains phlegm-fire and opens the orifices, and quiets convulsion
Unani: muqawwi-e-qalb (cardiac tonic), mubarrid (refrigerant), habis (astringent to fluxes), muqawwi-e-meda (stomachic)

Cautions

Contraindications: cold Stomach and Spleen with loose stool; cold phlegm without heat
Toxicity: no notable toxicity in normal use

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