Witnessed by: TCM
Figwort (Scrophularia ningpoensis), of the Scrophulariaceae family. Tall perennial of moist valley ground; native range: central and eastern China, especially Zhejiang. Globally recognized as xuan shen (玄参) in Chinese, and Ningpo figwort, black figwort in English. The part used is root. Dark greyish-black root, sweet and bitter with a salty finish, moist within.
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.
FIGWORT
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- figwort
- Scientific name
- Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsl.
- Family
- Scrophulariaceae
Form
- Part used
- root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter · sweet · salty
Temperature
- TCM
- cold
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Stomach · Kidney
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears heat, cools the blood, nourishes the yin, generates fluids, and softens hardness to resolve toxicity
Cautions
- Contraindications
- avoid in damp-cold of the Spleen and Stomach with poor appetite and loose stool; classically incompatible with veratrum (li lu), one of the eighteen antagonisms
- Toxicity
- none of note at customary dose
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