Dandelion is a name used in traditional Chinese medicine. It refers to the dried whole herb of Taraxacum mongolicum Hand. Mazz., Taraxacum borealisinense Kitam., or several other species within the genus Taraxacum of the Asteraceae family. It has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, reducing swelling and dispersing nodules, and promoting urination to relieve urinary obstruction.It is primarily used to treat boils and swollen abscesses, mastitis, scrofula, red eyes, sore throat, lung abscess, intestinal abscess, damp-heat jaundice, and painful and difficult urination due to heat.
Dandelion
Dandelion is a name used in traditional Chinese medicine. It refers to the dried whole herb of Taraxacum mongolicum Hand. Mazz., Taraxacum borealisinense Kitam., or several other species within the genus Taraxacum of the Asteraceae family. It has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, reducing swelling and dispersing nodules, and promoting urination to relieve urinary obstruction.It is primarily used to treat boils and swollen abscesses, mastitis, scrofula, red eyes, sore throat, lung abscess, intestinal abscess, damp-heat jaundice, and painful and difficult urination due to heat.
Chinese Name : 蒲公英
Latin Name : Taraxaci Herba
Aliases : Hua Hualang, Dandelion, Yellow-flowered Groundsel, Bedwetting Herb, Granny’s Dandelion
Authentic Producing Area : Found in most regions of China
Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Taste: bitter, sweet; Nature: cold; Enters the Liver and Stomach meridians
Benefits & Efficacy
Benefits
Clears heat and detoxifies; reduces swelling and disperses nodules; promotes urination and relieves dysuria.
Indications
Boils and swollen abscesses, mastitis, scrofula, red eyes, sore throat, lung abscess, intestinal abscess, damp-heat jaundice, and painful and difficult urination due to heat.
Usage and Dosage
1. Internal use: Decoct and take 9–15 g. 2. External use: Use an appropriate amount of the fresh herb; pound it into a paste and apply, or decoct it to make a solution for steaming or washing the affected area.
Precautions
1. Excessive doses of this herb may cause mild diarrhea. 2. Use with caution in cases not involving actual heat syndromes or yin-type ulcers. 3. Simultaneous decoction of dandelion with ephedra and honeysuckle may cause the solution to become cloudy; therefore, it is not suitable for use in compound injections. 4. Avoid use with potassium-sparing, sodium-excreting drugs such as spironolactone and amiloride, as this may lead to hyperkalemia. 5. Concomitant use with alkaline drugs may weaken the antibacterial effect; therefore, concurrent use is not recommended. 6. It should not be used in combination with sulfonamide drugs, as dandelion contains organic acids that can easily cause sulfonamide drugs to crystallize in the urine, thereby increasing the burden on the kidneys.
Chemical Constituents
It primarily contains organic acids (caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, pseudotaraxasterol palmitate, etc.), essential oils (n-hexanol, camphor, n-octanol, trans-dianthenene, etc.), and flavonoids (quercetin-3-O-glucoside,quercetin-3-O-β-galactoside, quercetin, luteolin-7-O-glucoside, luteolin, eugenol, apigenin, etc.).
Pharmacological Actions
This product possesses antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-ulcer properties.
Relevant Discussions
1. *Commentary on the Classic of Materia Medica*: “Dandelion has a sweet and neutral taste and is non-toxic. It enters the Liver and Stomach meridians and is an essential herb for reducing fever and cooling the blood. Mastitis is associated with the Liver meridian; after menstruation, the Liver meridian takes the lead, so dandelion is primarily used to treat mastitis and swellings in women, and it is also suitable for consumption raw.”
2. *Compendium of Medical Essentials*: “Dandelion can dispel heat toxins, neutralize food toxins, reduce swelling and lumps, and treat carbuncles and breast abscesses—all due to its ability to purge fire and stabilize the earth. It promotes lactation through its form. It strengthens the teeth by eliminating both yin and yang heat. It is said that a single stem bears two flowers, stands about one chi tall, and has a root as large as a fist, with a human-like figure embracing it at the base; when its juice is pounded and mixed with wine, it is remarkably effective for treating dysphagia.Those I have seen all have one stem and one flower, and rarely reach a height of one chi; nevertheless, I have used them to treat dysphagia.”
3. *Supplements to the Compendium of Materia Medica*: “Treats all kinds of venomous insect and snake bites.”
4. *Seeking the Truth in Materia Medica*: “Dandelion enters the Yangming Stomach and Jueyin Liver meridians; it cools the blood and clears heat, and is therefore of primary importance for treating mastitis and breast abscesses.This is because the nipple is associated with the Liver, and the breast with the Stomach; mastitis and breast cancer are often caused by excessive heat and blood stasis. When used, it directly enters these two meridians; applied externally, it is highly effective in reducing swelling, while for internal treatment, it must be combined with herbs such as Xiekou, Beimu, Lianqiao, and Baiying.”
5. *Ben Cao Zheng Yi*: “Dandelion has a cool nature and treats all types of carbuncles, abscesses, and conditions involving redness, swelling, and heat-toxin. It can be taken orally or applied topically with proven efficacy; it is particularly rapid in treating mastitis and breast carbuncles characterized by redness, swelling, and hard lumps. Fresh dandelion can be pounded to extract juice and taken warm; dried dandelion can be decocted. It can be used alone, but it is an indispensable ingredient in decoction formulas.”
6. *Tang Bencao*: “It is primarily used to treat breast abscesses and swelling in women.”
7. *Illustrated Compendium of Materia Medica*: “Apply topically to sores; it also treats malignant thorns and fox-urine thorns.”
8. *Supplement to the Elucidation of the Materia Medica*: “It dissipates heat toxins, resolves malignant swellings and nodules, relieves food poisoning, and disperses stagnant qi.”
9. *Herbal of Southern Yunnan*: “Apply topically to various sores, swellings, and toxic lesions, as well as scabies, eczema, and skin ulcers; dispels wind, eliminates toxins from various sores, and disperses scrofula nodules; stops blood in the urine, treats the five types of dysuria and urinary retention, and promotes bladder function.”
10. *Compendium of Materia Medica*: “Darkens hair and strengthens tendons and bones.”
11. *Compendium of Medical Essentials*: “It tonifies the spleen and harmonizes the stomach, purges fire, promotes lactation, and treats dysphagia.”
Applications
Clinical Applications
1. To treat swelling and pain from mastitis, this herb may be used alone as a concentrated decoction for oral administration, or the juice of the fresh herb may be taken orally while the pulp is applied to the affected area; it may also be combined with whole Trichosanthes fruit, honeysuckle, and burdock seeds. To treat swelling and pain from carbuncles, it is often combined with wild chrysanthemum, purple groundsel, and honeysuckle, as in the “Five-Flavor Disinfecting Decoction” (*Medical Canon of the Golden Mirror*);For treating abdominal pain caused by intestinal abscesses, it is often combined with Rheum palmatum, Paeonia suffruticosa, and Prunus persica seeds; for treating lung abscesses with purulent vomiting, it is often combined with Houttuynia cordata, winter melon seeds, and Phragmites root. This herb detoxifies, reduces swelling, and disperses nodules; when combined with Isatis root and Scrophularia, it can also be used to treat sore throat and swelling; fresh herb applied topically can also treat venomous snake bites.
2. To treat painful and difficult urination due to heat, it is often used in combination with White Sedge Root, Moneywort, and Plantain Seed to enhance the diuretic and urinary-clearing effects; to treat damp-heat jaundice, it is often used in combination with Artemisia Capillaris, Gardenia, and Rhubarb.
3. To treat redness, swelling, and pain in the eyes caused by rising liver fire, it can be used alone by extracting the juice and applying it to the eyes, or taken orally as a concentrated decoction; it can also be combined with chrysanthemum, summer枯草, and scutellaria.
Related Compatibility
1. Dandelion Combined with Summer Deadgrass: Both herbs are cold in nature and enter the Liver Meridian. Dandelion excels at clearing heat, eliminating toxins, relieving stagnation, dispersing nodules, and reducing abscesses and swellings; Summer Deadgrass excels at clearing Liver fire and dispersing stagnation. When used together, their cold nature clears and resolves without causing stagnation, thereby enhancing their ability to clear Liver fire, eliminate toxins, reduce abscesses, and promote the flow of qi to disperse nodules.Indicated for redness, swelling, and pain in the eyes and throat caused by excess fire in the Liver Meridian and internal accumulation of heat toxins; for carbuncles, abscesses, scrofula, phlegm nodules, and mastitis resulting from stagnation of fire, heat, and pathogenic toxins; as well as for jaundice and pain in the flanks caused by heat toxins in the Liver and Gallbladder and stagnation of damp-heat.
2. Dandelion Combined with Tianhuafen: Dandelion excels at clearing heat, detoxifying, resolving abscesses, and dispersing nodules;Tianhuafen excels at clearing heat, generating body fluids, reducing swelling, and draining pus. When combined, these two herbs enhance their ability to clear heat, eliminate toxins, resolve abscesses, and drain pus. For sores and swellings where pus has not yet formed, this combination promotes their resolution; for those where pus has already formed, it facilitates ulceration and drainage. It is suitable for abscesses, toxic sores, mastitis, and lung abscesses.
3. Dandelion combined with Plantain Herb: Both herbs can clear heat, eliminate toxins, promote diuresis, and relieve dysuria. Dandelion excels at clearing heat and eliminating toxins; Plantain Herb excels at promoting diuresis and relieving dysuria.When used together, their combined effects of clearing heat, eliminating toxins, promoting diuresis, and relieving dysuria are enhanced. This combination is suitable for treating damp-heat jaundice and painful, scanty urination due to heat. If the fresh herbs are pounded into a paste and applied topically, they are highly effective in treating various abscesses, sores, and toxic swellings.
Medicinal Identification
1. Honeysuckle and Dandelion: Both are heat-clearing and detoxifying herbs, capable of treating abscesses, sores, and toxic swellings, as well as lung abscesses and intestinal abscesses.However, honeysuckle is sweet, cold, light in nature, and has a dispersing aroma; it possesses strong heat-clearing and detoxifying properties and is particularly suitable for abscesses, swellings, and toxic sores characterized by intense heat-toxin. It is also effective at dispersing wind-heat and can be used to treat exogenous wind-heat syndromes and heat-toxin bloody dysentery.Dandelion is bitter, sweet, and cold in nature; while its ability to clear heat and eliminate toxins is not as potent as that of honeysuckle, it can resolve abscesses and disperse nodules, and it also promotes lactation, making it particularly effective for treating mastitis. Furthermore, it drains dampness, relieves dysuria, clears the liver, and improves vision, so it is often used for damp-heat jaundice, painful and scanty urination due to heat, and red, swollen, and painful eyes caused by liver fire rising.
2. Reed Root and Dandelion: Both can clear heat and resolve abscesses, promote urination and relieve dysuria, and are used to treat lung abscesses with purulent discharge, painful and scanty urination due to heat, and short, red urine.However, Reed Root is a herb that clears heat and purges fire; it is sweet, cold, light in nature, and mild in action. It excels at clearing heat from the lungs and stomach and has the effect of generating body fluids and quenching thirst. It is suitable for feverish conditions with restlessness and thirst, stomach heat with retching, and coughs caused by lung heat or wind-heat; it can also promote the eruption of rashes, making it an excellent remedy for measles.Dandelion is bitter, sweet, and cold in nature; it possesses even stronger heat-clearing and detoxifying properties. It can also resolve abscesses and disperse nodules, making it particularly effective for treating abscesses, swellings, toxic sores, mastitis, and various internal abscesses; it is an excellent remedy for mastitis. Additionally, it clears liver heat and improves vision, and can be used for redness, swelling, and pain in the eyes caused by ascending liver fire.
Related Medicines
Re Yan Ning Granules (Tablets), Compound Dandelion Injection, Zhongsheng Pills, Compound Dandelion Tablets, Compound Dandelion and Scutellaria Tablets, Anti-inflammatory and Antipyretic Tablets, and Pudilan Anti-inflammatory Tablets.
Related Prescriptions
Yingteng Decoction (*Dongtian Aozi*), Lixiao Decoction (*Dongtian Aozi*), Decoction for Resolving Abscesses and Dispelling Toxins (*Yuanfang*), Dandelion Decoction (*Yixue Zhongzhong Canxi Lu*).
Medicinal Diet Therapy
Dandelion, Spinach, and Shredded Chicken Soup
1. Benefits: Clears heat and detoxifies; promotes diuresis and reduces swelling; tonifies qi.
2. Ingredients: 60g fresh dandelion, 1 bottle of West Lake spinach, 100g chicken breast, 1500g clear broth, 2 eggs, and salt, MSG, cooking wine, and cornstarch slurry to taste.
3. Preparation: Wash the dandelion and cut into thin strips. Soak the chicken breast in cold water for 30 minutes, then remove and cut into thin strips. Place the water spinach in a bowl. Mix the chicken strips with egg whites, salt, and water starch until well coated. Add the chicken strips to a pot of boiling water; once they turn white, remove them and place them in a bowl, then pour cold clear broth over them.Blanch the dandelion greens in the boiling clear broth until fully cooked, then transfer them to the soup bowl. Drain the liquid from the spinach, blanch the spinach in the broth until tender, then transfer it to the soup bowl and discard the broth.Blanch the shredded chicken in boiling clear broth until cooked through, then transfer it to the soup bowl. Bring the remaining clear broth to a boil, season with cooking wine, salt, and MSG to taste, then pour it into the soup bowl.
4. Serving Suggestions: Serve as a side dish; enjoy both the broth and the chicken.
Notes
Patients requiring treatment with traditional Chinese medicine should first consult a licensed TCM hospital, where a TCM practitioner will conduct a professional diagnosis and prescribe the appropriate herbal formula.
Processing & Preparation
Harvesting & Processing
Harvest from spring through early autumn when the flowers first bloom; remove impurities, wash thoroughly, and sun-dry.
Processing Methods
Take the raw herb, remove impurities, rinse thoroughly with running water, drain, air-dry briefly, cut into sections, dry thoroughly, and sift.
Storage Methods
Store in a dry container in a well-ventilated, dry place, protected from moisture and insect infestation.
Crude Drug Identification
Properties of Crude Drugs
This product appears as shriveled, curled clumps. The roots are conical, often curved, and 3–7 cm long; their surface is brownish-black and wrinkled; the root tips bear brownish-black or yellowish-white downy hairs, some of which have fallen off.Leaves are basal, mostly shriveled and fragmented; intact leaves are oblanceolate, greenish-brown or dark gray, with acute or obtuse tips, margins shallowly or pinnately lobed, bases gradually narrowing and extending downward into petioles, and prominent midveins on the underside.There is one to several flower stalks, each bearing a terminal capitulum; the involucral bracts are in multiple layers, with the innermost layer being longer; the corolla is yellowish-brown or pale yellowish-white. In some specimens, numerous oblong achenes with white pappus are visible. Slight odor; slightly bitter taste.
Properties of Processed Slices
This product consists of irregular segments. The surface of the roots is brownish-black and wrinkled; the root heads bear brownish-black or yellowish-white downy hairs, some of which have fallen off. The leaves are mostly shriveled and fragmented, greenish-brown or dark gray-green; when flattened, intact leaves are oblanceolate, with acute or obtuse apices, margins shallowly or pinnately lobed, and bases gradually narrowing and extending downward to form a petiole-like structure.The inflorescence is a capitulum with multiple layers of involucral bracts; the corolla is yellowish-brown or pale yellowish-white. Occasionally, oblong achenes with white pappus are visible. It has a faint odor and a slightly bitter taste.
Botanical Information
Botanical Classification
Plants in the genus Taraxacum of the Asteraceae family, such as common dandelion and alkali-land dandelion, belong to the same genus.
Morphological Characteristics
1. Dandelion: A perennial herb, 10–25 cm tall, with white latex throughout the plant and covered with sparse, soft white hairs. The root is deep and long, either single or branched, typically 3–5 mm in diameter, with a yellowish-brown outer skin. Leaves are basal, arranged in a rosette; they have petioles, with the base of the petiole widening on both sides to form a sheath;the leaf blades are linear-lanceolate, oblanceolate, or obovate, 6–15 cm long and 2–3.5 cm wide, with an acute or obtuse apex, a narrow, decurrent base, and margins that are shallowly lobed or irregularly pinnately divided; the lobes are dentate or triangular, with entire margins or sparsely toothed, and fine serrations between the lobes;green or sometimes with pale purple spots along the margins, covered with white, spider-web-like hairs. The flower stalk emerges from the leaf cluster, longer than or slightly shorter than the leaf blades, densely covered with white, spider-web-like hairs in the upper part; the inflorescence is a single, terminal capitulum consisting entirely of ray florets, which are bisexual;the involucral bracts are arranged in multiple layers, with the outer layers being shorter and ovate-lanceolate, and the innermost layer linear-lanceolate; the margins are membranous and bear spider-web-like hairs; both the inner and outer bracts have small horn-like projections at the apex; the receptacle is flat; the corolla is yellow, with a truncate apex and often lobed; there are 5 stamens, with the anthers fused into a tubular structure enclosing the style, and the filaments are free;1 pistil; ovary inferior; style slender and long; stigma 2-lobed, with short hairs. Achenes oblanceolate, with longitudinal ridges connected by transverse striations; the entire fruit surface is covered with spiny projections; the apex of the fruit bears a beak 8–10 mm long; pappus white. Flowering period: April–May; fruiting period: June–July.
2. Alkaline-soil Dandelion: The leaflets are regularly pinnately lobed. The tips of the involucral bracts lack horn-like projections; the corolla is yellow; the achenes are lanceolate, 4–5.5 mm long.
Distribution Area
1. Common Dandelion: Distributed in North China, Northeast China, East China, Central China, Southwest China, as well as Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai. 2. Alkaline-Soil Dandelion: Distributed in North China, Northeast China, as well as Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, and Xinjiang.