- Region
- Asia
- Origin
- South and Southeast Asia and southern China
- Traditions
- Chinese medical traditions, Jamu in Indonesia
Asia · Herb · № 739
Imperata cylindrica
Herb · Asia
Cogon grass root (bai mao gen)
Imperata cylindrica
Traditionally attributed effects: cools the blood and stops bleeding; promotes urination and cools lung and stomach.
Safety notes
Not with cold from spleen deficiency. Traditional use is no proof of effectiveness; if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or have a medical condition, consult a doctor or pharmacist.
Preparation
Rhizome. Usually as a decoction, together with other herbs.
Use in traditions
Described in the classical Chinese materia medica, in the group 'herbs that stop bleeding'. According to Chinese medicine the sweet rhizome (bai mao gen) cools the blood and stops nosebleeds and blood in the urine. In Indonesia a cooling drink is made from the root; elsewhere it is a notorious weed.
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.
Chinese materia medica
- Nature and taste
- sweet, cold
- Meridians
- lung, stomach, bladder
Attributed effects
For bleeding from heat (coughing up, vomiting or passing blood), hot, painful urination and oedema, and heat in lung and stomach with thirst, nausea and wheezing.
Preparation and amount
Traditional dosage: 10–30 g a day, usually in a decoction.
Combinations
- With biota and rehmannia for bleeding
- With plantain seed and jin qian cao for blood in the urine
- Ways to prepare herbs
- Decoction