Herb

Seahorse (Hai ma)

海马hai ma

1 sourceSafety notes recordedHippocampus

Recorded in Bencao Gangmu for difficult delivery and blood-qi pain, warming the kidney, invigorating yang, dispersing masses, and for sores and toxic swelling. Historical record only; from an endangered, internationally protected species (seahorse).

Source

Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu)卷四十四·鳞部·无鳞鱼·海马·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 & zoological facts (public-domain reference facts; no proprietary modern source).

Nature, flavor & meridians

Nature & flavor: 甘，温、平，无毒。

Citations

Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷四十四·鳞部·无鳞鱼·海马·条名Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its classification.
Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷四十四·鳞部·无鳞鱼·海马·气味Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its nature & flavor.
Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷四十四·鳞部·无鳞鱼·海马·主治Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its traditional functions.