Witnessed by: TCM

Hai feng teng (Piper kadsura), of the Piperaceae family. Woody evergreen climber rooting at the nodes, with leathery leaves and a jointed, swollen-noded stem; native range: the coastal forests and islands of southeastern China, Taiwan, the Ryukyus and southern Japan, climbing on rock and tree. Globally recognized as hai feng teng (海风藤) · feng teng (风藤) in Chinese, fūtō-kazura (風藤葛) in Japanese, and kadsura pepper stem · sea wind vine in English. The part used is the stem (vine). Cylindrical, greyish-brown lengths with raised nodes and lengthwise wrinkles, light and pithy, the cut surface showing a radiate wood about a soft white pith; the smell aromatic and peppery, the taste pungent and faintly bitter.

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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