Anti-Cancer Herbs ⁽¹⁷¹⁾

Wang Gua, also called Tu Gua, is a perennial herbaceous vine of the genus Trichosanthes in the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), distributed throughout eastern, central, southern, and southwestern China. Its fruit, seeds, and root can all be used medicinally. As early as the Han dynasty, Zhang…

Cotton is an indispensable necessity of daily life: many of the clothes we wear, the hats on our heads, the bags on our shoulders, the shoes on our feet, and the bedding we sleep on are made of cotton. The cotton we commonly use comes…

The Chinese medicine Xiong Huang is a sulfide mineral of the realgar group, mainly containing arsenic disulfide (As2S2) with a small amount of impurities, mainly produced in Cili and Shimen (Hunan), and Langdai and Sinan (Guizhou). Realgar is a typical mineral of low-temperature hydrothermal and…

Xi Shu (Camptotheca acuminata) is a deciduous tree of the genus Camptotheca in the Nyssaceae family, mainly distributed in southwest China and in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Taiwan. Its fruit, root, and root bark can all be used medicinally. The…

The Chinese medicinal A Wei is the oleoresin secreted by umbelliferous plants such as Ferula assa-foetida, F. sinkiangensis, and F. fukanensis. The parent plants grow in sandy soils and deserts, mainly distributed in Central Asia of the former Soviet Union, Iran, and Afghanistan; they are…

Loulu is the dried root of Rhaponticum uniflorum (L.) DC. (family Asteraceae), mainly produced in Hebei, Shandong and Shaanxi. Traditional TCM holds that Loulu is bitter in flavor and cold in nature, entering the Stomach meridian. It has the actions of clearing heat and resolving…

Ebushicao is the whole herb of Centipeda minima of the Asteraceae family, also called Yuanyuangsui, Jichangcao and Diyuan sui, produced mainly in Zhejiang, Hubei, Jiangsu and Guangdong. Traditional TCM considers it pungent and warm, entering the Lung and Liver meridians. It expels wind and unblocks…

Tianhuafen is the root of Trichosanthes kirilowii and Trichosanthes rosthornii of the Cucurbitaceae family, also called Gualougen, Huafen, Baiyao, Gualoufen and Loufen. Besides the root, the peel and kernels of Gualou are also medicinal: the peel is called Gualoupi, and the kernels Gualouren. TCM considers…

Huangyaozi is the tuber of Dioscorea bulbifera of the Dioscoreaceae family, also called Huangyao, Huangyaogen, Hongyaozi and Huangdugen. The earliest TCM external-surgery monograph, the Liu Juanzi Guiyi Fang, already records Huangyaozi. The Bidu San (Toxin-Driving Powder) recorded there uses Huangyaozi and Baiyaozi each one liang…

Maytenus (Meidengmu) of the Celastraceae family is distributed mainly in Myanmar, India and China; in China it is found in Xishuangbanna and Shuangjiang in southwestern Yunnan. It grows in shady, moist environments on both sides of tropical river valleys at 400-1300 m elevation, preferring the…