Foubi Root

Fubigen, a name in traditional Chinese medicine. It is the root of Premnamicrophylla Turcz., a plant in the Verbenaceae family. It has the efficacy of clearing heat and detoxifying. It is used to treat malaria, summer heat in children, rheumatic pain, toothache caused by wind-heat, trauma from falls and blows, and burns from water or fire.

Chinese Name : 腐婢根

Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Bitter, cold. Enters the Spleen Meridian

Benefits & Efficacy

Benefits

Clears heat and detoxifies.

Indications

Used for malaria, summer fever in children, rheumatic arthralgia, wind-fire toothache, trauma, and burns or scalds.

Usage and Dosage

Internal use: Decocted as a soup, 10–15 g; fresh herb, 30–60 g. External use: Apply an appropriate amount, pounded and applied as a poultice; or ground into a powder and mixed with a carrier for application.

Relevant Discussions

*Anhui Chinese Herbal Medicine*: “Clears heat and purges fire; dispels wind and removes dampness; stops bleeding and reduces swelling.”

Applications

Related Compatibility

Treatment for burns: Dry the bark or leaves of the small green tree in the sun, grind into a very fine powder, and apply with cottonseed oil or vegetable oil 1–2 times daily. (*Selected Technical Materials from the National Exhibition on New Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapies*)

Processing & Preparation

Harvesting & Processing

Can be harvested year-round; use fresh or slice and sun-dry.

Crude Drug Identification

Botanical Information

Botanical Classification

Genus *Tofuchai* of the Verbenaceae family.

Morphological Characteristics

An erect shrub, 2–6 m tall. Young branches are pubescent; older branches gradually become glabrous.Simple leaves are opposite; petioles are 0.5–2 cm long; leaf blades are ovate-lanceolate, obovate, elliptic, or ovate, with a foul odor, 3–13 cm long and 1.5–6 cm wide, gradually narrowing at the base, entire or with irregular coarse teeth, and acute to long-acuminate at the apex, glabrous or with short soft hairs.Cymose inflorescences form a pyramidal panicle, terminal; the calyx is cup-shaped, green or sometimes purplish, densely hairy to nearly glabrous, often ciliate at the margin, and shallowly 5-lobed;The corolla is pale yellow and bilabiate, with four lobes; the outer surface is covered with soft hairs and glandular dots, while the inner surface is pubescent, particularly densely so at the throat; there are four stamens—two long and two short—attached to the corolla tube. The drupe is spherical to obovate, purple, and approximately 6 mm in diameter. Flowering occurs from May to June, and fruiting from June to October.

Distribution Area

Eastern China, Central and Southern China, as well as Sichuan and Guizhou.

Fubigen, a name in traditional Chinese medicine. It is the root of Premnamicrophylla Turcz., a plant in the Verbenaceae family. It has the efficacy of clearing heat and detoxifying. It is used to treat malaria, summer heat in children, rheumatic pain, toothache caused by wind-heat, trauma from falls and blows, and burns from water or fire.