Ting li zi are seeds of du xing cai (lepidium apetalum Willd.) or seeds of bo niang hao (descurainia sophia L.) the former is also called northern ting li zi and the latter is also called southern ting li zi.
This is an annual which grows from a few inches to one and half feet tall and which bears feather-like leaves and white flowers.
Pharmaceutical name: 英文藥名﹕ | Herba Descurainiae seu Lepidii Semen Descurainiae seu Lepidii |
Botanical name: 學名﹕ | Lepidium sativum, Ledeb , Lepidium apetalum Willd., Lepidium micranthum L., Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb ex Prantl Draba nemorosa var. hebecarpa Ledeb. |
Japanese: 日語﹕ | teirekishi﹔  , literally means pepper grass. |
Pron. in Korean: 韓語發音﹕ | chongbangja |
Pron. in Cantonese: 粵音﹕ | tok hang choi, teng lik tse |
Other Names: 別名﹕ | tian ting li 甜葶藶子 |
Common Name: 英文名﹕ | garden crest (Lepidium sativum); flixweed, herb sophia （Descurainia sophia） |
Distribution: 產地﹕ | Eastern and south central China (Descurainia), northern and northeastern China (Lepidium) |
Properties (characteristics)﹕ 性味﹕ | acrid, bitter, cold |
Channels (meridians) entered: 歸經﹕ | ling, bladder |
Medical functions: 藥理﹕ | |
Actions & Indications: 主治﹕ | in whooping cough, pleurisy, idiopathic pneumothorax, pulmonary edema, ascites, acute nephritis in children, and pyloric infarction. |
Chemical ingredients: 化學成份﹕ | (1) Heart stimulating chemicals : stophanthidine, evomonoside, helvticoside, evbioside, erysimoside (2) glucosinolates, benzyl isothiocyanate, allyl isothiocynatge, allyl isothiocyanate, 3-butenyl isothiocyanate (3) fatty acids: linolenic acid 7.54%, linoleic acid 32.5%, oleic acid 25.1%, sinapic acid 21.4%, palmitic acid 9.64%, stearic acid 3.81% (4) seeds of du xing cai (lepidium apetalum Willd.) contain sinalbin, protein and sugar |
Dosage: 用量﹕ | 3 to 9 g |
Samples of formulae :處方舉例﹕ | |
Modern Research: 現代研究﹕ | |
Toxicity & Cautions: 毒素與禁忌﹕ | Side effects: tightness in chest, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, panic, rash, pale complexion, sweating, breathing difficulty, increased heart rate, lowering of blood pressure and heart failure. Not to use in cases of wheezing and cough due to lung qi deficient, and in edema due to pixu (spleen deficient)脾虛. |