Greenlife Chinese herb database - Flos Carthami (Hong Hua)

Greenlife Chinese herb database - Flos Carthami (Hong Hua)

English Name

Safflower

Chinese Name

Picture

Flos Carthami

Carthamus tinctorius

Origin

Saffower is the dried flower of Carthamus tinctorius L. (Fam. Compostiae).

Nature and Affinity

This drug is pungent in taste and warm in nature, and is distributed to the Heart and Liver Channels.

Main Active Ingredient

Precaution

Used with caution in pregnancy.

Storage

Preserve in a cool and dry place, protected from moisture and moth.

	DESCRIPTION
	The drug consisting of tubular flowers without ovaries, 1~2 cm long. Externally reddish-yellow or red. Corolla tubes slender, 5-lobed at the apex, the lobes narrowly belt-shaped, 5~8 mm long. Stamens 5, anthers aggregated to a tube, yellowish-white. Stigma long cylindrical, slightly 2-cleft. Texture pliable. Odour, slightly aromatic; taste, slightly bitter.
	ACTION
	To activate blood circulation and stimulate menstrual discharge, and to remove blood stasis and relieve pain.
	INDICATIONS
	Amenorrhea, dysmenorrheal; retention of lochia; formation of mass in the abdomen; traumatic injuries, sores with swelling and pain.
	REFERENTIAL ADVICE
	1.Activating blood circulation and restoring menstrual flow This drug can be used to treat amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea,abdominal masses, etc., which are due to stasis of blood, and is often used in combination with Semen Persicae,Radix Angelicae Sinensis, Rhizoma Ligustici Chuanxiong, etc. 2.Removing blood stasis to relieve pain This drug can be used to treat angina pectoris seen in coronary heart disease,and is often used in combination with Rhizoma Ligustici Chuanxiong. Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae,etc. In treating hypochondriac pain due to stasis of blood, carbuncle, and hematemesis with blood stasis, the drug can be used in combination with Semen Persicae,Resina Boswelliae Carterii, Resina Commiphorae Myrrhae, etc. In treating ecchymoma, cyanosis and painful swelling due to traumatic injury, contusion and pain the drug can be mixed with spirit and applied to the local area. In treating thromboangiitis manifested by dark red or bluish purple foot, which is due to stasis of Qi and blood, the drug is often used in combination with Radix Angelicae Sinensis,Semen Persicae, Radix Paeoniae Rubra, Resina Boswelliae Carterii,Resina Commiphorae Myrrhae,etc.
	TIPS
	The extracted oil of the herb is used in tui na massage; pregnant women should avoid the drug.