Witnessed by: TCM · Western · Unani
Great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis), of the Rosaceae family. Erect perennial with pinnate leaves and dark crimson button-flowers; native range: Damp meadows and grasslands across Europe and temperate Asia. Globally recognized as di yu (地榆) in Chinese, and garden burnet, greater burnet, bloodwort in English. The part used is root and rhizome. A hard woody root, brown without and reddish within, strongly astringent and bitter, drying the mouth.
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.
GREAT BURNET
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Great burnet
- Scientific name
- Sanguisorba officinalis L.
- Family
- Rosaceae
Form
- Part used
- root and rhizome
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter · sour · astringent
- Western
- astringent · bitter
- Unani
- astringent · bitter
Temperature
- TCM
- cold (slightly)
- Western
- cool
- Unani
- cold (cold & dry)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver · Large Intestine · Stomach
- Western
- blood · bowels · uterus · skin
- Unani
- stomach · intestines · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- cools the blood and stops bleeding, especially from the lower body; clears heat and resolves toxicity, generates flesh in burns and sores
- Western
- astringent and styptic, haemostatic, tonic to the mucous membranes, vulnerary
- Unani
- habis-ud-dam (styptic), qabid (astringent), for haemorrhage and flux, healing to wounds
Cautions
- Contraindications
- early-stage dysentery with active damp-heat accumulation, and cold-deficient bleeding without heat
- Toxicity
- large tannin-rich doses may upset the stomach; extensive burn dressings are avoided (tannin absorption)
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