Herb

Croton Seed (Ba dou)

巴豆ba dou

1 sourceSafety notes recordedFructus Crotonis

Modern safety information is being compiled for this entry.

Recorded for drastically purging cold accumulation and driving water, and for dispersing phlegm to relieve throat-block. A toxic substance, used with great caution.

Source

Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu)卷三十五·乔木·巴豆·主治

References

functions_en self-translated from 本草纲目 traditional_functions (public domain; the Chinese tf carries verbatim excerpt_hash citations). No modern work consulted.
WHO IST-TCM terminology-aligned for the English rendering.
public pharmacopoeia & botanical facts (public-domain reference facts; no proprietary modern source).

Traditional functions

Classical source text (Chinese) — English summary above.

传统中医记载：主伤寒温疟寒热，破癥瘕结聚坚积、留饮痰癖、大腹水胀，荡练五脏六腑、开通闭塞、利水谷道，去恶肉；峻下逐水、祛痰利咽（斩关夺门之将，不可轻用）。

Nature, flavor & meridians

Nature & flavor: 辛，温，有毒；《别录》：生温熟寒，有大毒。

Citations

Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷三十五·乔木·巴豆·集解Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its classification.
Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷三十五·乔木·巴豆·气味Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its nature & flavor.
Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷三十五·乔木·巴豆·主治Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its traditional functions.
Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷三十五·乔木·巴豆·气味（大毒）Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its safety notes.