- Region
- Asia
- Origin
- East Asia: China, Japan and Korea; invasive in North America. Lonicera japonica
Asia · Herb · № 127
Lonicera japonica en L. periclymenum
Herb · Asia
Japanese honeysuckle
Lonicera japonica en L. periclymenum
The flower buds (jin yin hua) are an important 'cooling' herb in Chinese medicine for fever, sore throats and colds. There is plenty of laboratory research but few good clinical studies.
Safety notes
The berries are mildly toxic. Do not use long term with a cold, sensitive stomach; serious infections need a doctor.
Cautions by tradition (2)
- Herbal medicine worldwide: The berries are poisonous.
- Chinese materia medica: Not with a cold, weak spleen with diarrhoea; caution with qi or yin deficiency.
Preparation
Flower buds as tea or in decoctions, often with forsythia (lian qiao). No dosage is given here.
Use in traditions
The Chinese name means 'gold-and-silver flower', after blossoms that turn from white to yellow. Ody describes the classic pairing with forsythia in the formula Yin Qiao San for early colds.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Herbal medicine worldwide
Attributed effects
L. japonica antibacterial, lowers blood pressure, anti-inflammatory, mildly diuretic, antispasmodic; L. periclymenum diuretic, antispasmodic, expectorant, laxative.
Preparation and amount
Japanese honeysuckle: decoction of 10–15 g flower buds in 600 ml at the start of a feverish cold with sore throat; tincture for diarrhoea from food poisoning; stems for joint pain; wild honeysuckle: flower tea and syrup for cough and mild asthma.
Caution: The berries are poisonous.
Chinese materia medica
- Nature and taste
- sweet, cold
- Meridians
- lung, heart, stomach, large intestine
Attributed effects
Jin yin hua is a broad-acting remedy against heat and 'toxin': painful swellings, boils, sore throat, eye inflammation, respiratory infections, intestinal abscesses, wind-heat with fever and headache, dysentery and cystitis. The young stems (ren dong teng) are used in higher doses for inflamed, rheumatic joints.
Preparation and amount
Traditional dosage: 6–15 g a day, traditionally higher in serious infections. Often used together with lian qiao; they complement each other against different bacteria.
Combinations
- With lian qiao in yin qiao san for wind-heat
- With platycodon and burdock seed for sore throat
- With pulsatilla and ku shen for bloody diarrhoea
Caution: Not with a cold, weak spleen with diarrhoea; caution with qi or yin deficiency.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- Tea (infusion)DecoctionTinctureSyrup, honey and oxymel