Pinellia Rhizome / Crow-dipper

OVERVIEW

What This Record Covers

Pinellia Rhizome, called Ban Xia, is the tuber of Pinellia ternata, a small herb of the arum family (Araceae) that grows in shady, moist fields across eastern Asia. The medicinal material is the small, round, pale tuber, harvested, cleaned, and dried, and it has a distinctive cut surface with a central depression. In trade it appears as processed tuber pieces, powders, granules, and combined formulas, and the raw tuber is a separate and much more irritating material. Because raw Pinellia is strongly irritating to the mouth and throat, the source and the processing record must be distinguished before any product is used.

English name

Pinellia Rhizome / Crow-dipper

Latin name

Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Breit.

Traditional category

Phlegm Transforming

Nature

Warm

Flavor description

Pungent

Record identifier

banxia

IDENTIFICATION

Identification and Image Notes

The tuber is small, round, and pale, with a central bud and a distinctive cut surface, and raw tuber, processed Pinellia, and unrelated substitutes are not interchangeable. The dried tuber is about a centimeter across, white to gray-white, with a slight central depression and a chalky texture, and the processed forms are darker and firmer. The processed form cannot be identified from a photograph, so the label and batch record are the identity document, and raw material should never be assumed from a processed product.

Images are for orientation only, not definitive species authentication; confirm species, part, source, and labeling with a qualified professional or authoritative monograph.

TRADITIONAL CONTEXT

Traditional Use in Context

Traditional records discuss Pinellia for phlegm, nausea, digestive obstruction, and dampness language, and it is a central ingredient of classical formulas such as Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang for digestive obstruction, Er Chen Tang for phlegm-dampness, and Xiao Ban Xia Tang for nausea. Classical texts describe it for nausea, a feeling of chest obstruction, and phlegm-dampness presentations, always within a pattern-based framework. The phlegm and nausea vocabulary is historical, and persistent vomiting, severe nausea, or digestive symptoms require medical assessment rather than self-treatment.

PROCESSING CONTEXT

Raw Material, Processing, and Product Form

Processing with ginger, alum, or other specified materials is a core identity and safety requirement, and raw material can be strongly irritating and should never be inferred from a processed product label. Each standardized processed form is a separate record.

The same name can cover a raw material, decoction piece, powder, extract, or finished product, so record the labeled form rather than assuming it; see the safety review for the questions to ask.

COMPARISON

How This Entry Differs

Compare Pinellia Rhizome with Arisaema Rhizome for the two aroid tubers, and with Bamboo Shavings for the cooling end of the phlegm vocabulary. Pinellia is distinguished by its warming character, its nausea-related history, and the strict processing its products require.

Use the related-entry links below to compare identity, part, processing, and safety boundaries — similar categories do not make materials interchangeable.

STUDY METHOD

New to these entries?

Read the four-step method in How to Read a Herb Entry before comparing materials.