百子櫃THE HUNDRED DRAWERS
Dragon's tongue leaf
龍脷葉
moistens the lungssoothes cougheases the bowels適合燥熱咳、乾咳
The tongue-shaped dark-green leaf of Sauropus spatulifolius, a low Lingnan shrub, sold fresh in bunches or dried at herbal shops. Mild and faintly sweet, the leaves soften silkily in the pot and are classically simmered with lean pork for dry-weather soups.
TCM properties
Nature · neutral Flavour · sweet、bland Meridians · lung
Traditional food therapy
Lingnan tradition simmers the leaves with lean pork for dry-season throats, crediting them with moistening the lungs, easing heat-type dry cough and smoothing the bowels.
Cautions: read first
- For a cold cough, or a cough from internal injury, cooling and moistening soups make the illness worse. It suits a hot or dry cough only, and with a cold cough it makes things worse.
Preparation
Fresh or dried leaves, washed and used as they are.
Origin
The Pearl River Delta in Guangdong, and Guangxi (native to the Sumatra region, widely grown in Lingnan)
Availability in Australia
Herbal shops / specialists
