Introduction of Tian Zhu Huang: Tabashir or Concretio Silicea Bambusae.
✵This article documents the herb Tabashir, including its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavor, botanical sources—two plant species: (1) Bambusa textilis McClure and (2) Schizostachyum chinense Rendle—with detailed descriptions of the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environments of these two species; as well as the macroscopic features of Tabashir, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Concretio Silicea Bambusae (Tabashir)
Pinyin Name: Tiān Zhú Huánɡ
English Name: Tabashir
Latin Name:Concretio Silicea Bambusae Properties and Flavor: Cold, sweet
Brief Introduction:Concretio Silicea Bambusae is the dried secretory mass found in the stems of Bambusa textilis McClure or Schizostachyum chinense Rendle. It is used to clear heat, resolve phlegm, and calm the heart, especially for treating impaired consciousness due to high fever or stroke, and infantile convulsions. It is commonly known as Concretio Silicea Bambusae, Tabashir, or Tian Zhu Huang.
Botanical Source:Concretio Silicea Bambusae (Tabashir) is the dried secretory mass from the stems of Bambusa textilis McClure or Schizostachyum chinense Rendle—both belonging to the genus Bambusa Retz. corr. Schreber (Poaceae family, order Poales).
Classical herbal works define Concretio Silicea Bambusae (Tabashir) as the dried secretory mass from the stems of: (1) Bambusa textilis McClure and (2) Schizostachyum chinense Rendle. These two commonly used species are described below:
(1) Bambusa textilis McClure
Botanical Description:Bambusa textilis McClure is also known as Qing Pi Zhu. The culm reaches up to 8–10 m in height and 3–5 cm in diameter. The branch tips are curved and pendulous, while the lower portion is straight and upright. Internodes measure 40–70 cm in length; young culms are green and covered with a white waxy bloom and densely adnate pale brown bristles, becoming glabrous with age. Branchlets arise in clusters at the 7th to 11th nodes from the middle and lower portions of the culm; the central branchlet is thick and elongated. The culm sheath is caducous; the sheath auricles are small and unequal in size—larger auricles are narrowly oblong to lanceolate; the sheath ligule has a dentate-serrate margin; the sheath blade is erect and readily deciduous. The leaf sheath is glabrous, with a raised dorsal ridge and distinct longitudinal ribs; the auricle is typically sickle-shaped, bearing curved, radiating hairs along its margin; the ligule (paraphyll) margin is erose; leaf blades are linear-lanceolate to narrow-lanceolate, generally 9–17 cm long and 1–2 cm wide, with an acuminate apex bearing a slender, subulate tip, and a rounded or cuneate base.
False spikelets are solitary or tufted on the nodes of flowering branches; they are dark purple when fresh and bronze-colored when dried. Each spikelet contains 5–8 florets, the apical floret being sterile. There is one glume, with 21 veins; the lower palea is elliptical and bears 25 veins; the upper palea is lanceolate, bilaterally keeled, with 10 veins between the keels; the lemmas are unequal in size, their margins are fringed with long cilia; filaments are slender; anthers are yellow; the ovary base is stipitate; the style is short and hirsute; there are three feathery stigmas.
Growth Characteristics: The plant grows along riversides and near villages at low altitudes.
Characteristics of the Herb: The herb occurs as irregular tablets or granules of varying sizes, some measuring 1–2 mm in length. The surface is grayish-white, creamy-white (milky-white), taupe, or cadet blue; it is translucent and slightly glossy. The herb is lightweight, hard, and brittle—easily broken—with a glossy, slightly powdery fracture surface that feels smooth to the touch. It is highly hygroscopic; effervescence occurs upon immersion in water, yet it remains insoluble. It has a faint odor, a sweet taste, and a cool, refreshing sensation. It adheres slightly to the tongue and imparts a gritty (gravel-like) sensation upon chewing.
Pharmacological Actions: (1) Inhibitory effect against common pyogenic cocci and intestinal pathogenic bacteria.
Medicinal efficacy: Clears heat and resolves phlegm; calms the heart and arrests convulsions. Indicated for delirium and coma due to high fever, phlegm-induced coma and aphasia in stroke, infantile convulsions, hypertonia, and epilepsy.
Administration of Concretio Silicea Bambusae (Tiān Zhú Huánɡ):
Reference:
Administration Guide for Concretio Silicea Bambusae (Tiān Zhú Huánɡ)
TCM Books:
(1) Internally:3–9 grams, prepared as pills or powder; (2) Internally: 3–9 grams, in water decoction, or prepared as pills or powder; alternatively, finely ground herb powder may be administered at 0.6–1 gram per dose. External use: apply an appropriate amount of finely ground herb powder topically to the affected area.
(2) Schizostachyum chinense Rendle.
Botanical Description:Schizostachyum chinense Rendle is also known as Leptocanna chinensis (Rendle) Chia et H. L. Fung or Bao Zhu. The culm grows up to 5–8 m tall and 2–3 cm in diameter. Internodes are 30–45 cm long; the upper half is white-pilose when young and becomes glabrous with age. Branching typically begins above the third node and extends horizontally. The culm sheath is purplish-red (prunus-colored) when young, turning withered yellow with age; its length is usually about half that of the internode; the sheath apex is nearly trapezoidal; the sheath auricles are narrow-linear; the sheath ligule is nearly entire; the sheath blade is narrow-triangular with a long, acutely pointed apex; its margin is inflexed (incurved) near the apex. The leaf sheath is glabrous, with a purplish-red apex; leaf auricles and sheath hairs bear awns; the ligule (paraphyll) is truncate. Leaf blades are lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 15–26 cm long and 3–4.5 cm wide, with 7–9 pairs of secondary veins; cross-veins are conspicuous; the apex is long-acuminate; the base is rounded or broadly cuneate; petioles are purplish-red, glabrous, and approximately 5 mm long. The flowering branch is 35–40 cm long, with internodes 3–6 cm in length; secondary branches are 5–10 cm long, subtended at the base by sheath-like bracts that are amplexicaul (stem-clasping).
False spikelet apex is acuminate; bracts are ovate-lanceolate, 7–11 mm long. Spikelet apex is acuminate; two glumes are ovate-lanceolate; the sterile lower palea is ovate-lanceolate with 15 veins, and its midrib is elevated on the abaxial surface; the upper palea has 6 veins, with a tuft of short hairs at the apex; there are three lemmas, their veins are inconspicuous; the anther base bears two unequal lobes; the ovary is nearly cylindrical, the style is elongated and slender, and the stigma is plumose.
Ecological Environment: The plant grows in evergreen broad-leaved shrublands at altitudes of 1,500–2,500 m above sea level.
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References:
1.Introduction of Tian Zhu Huang: Tabashir or Concretio Silicea Bambusae.
✵This article documents the herb Tabashir, including its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavor, botanical sources—two plant species: (1) Bambusa textilis McClure and (2) Schizostachyum chinense Rendle—with detailed descriptions of the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environments of these two species; as well as the macroscopic features of Tabashir, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Pinyin Name: Tiān Zhú Huánɡ
Botanical Description: Bambusa textilis McClure is also known as Qing Pi Zhu. The culm reaches up to 8–10 m in height and 3–5 cm in diameter. The branch tips are curved and pendulous, while the lower portion is straight and upright. Internodes measure 40–70 cm in length; young culms are green and covered with a white waxy bloom and densely adnate pale brown bristles, becoming glabrous with age. Branchlets arise in clusters at the 7th to 11th nodes from the middle and lower portions of the culm; the central branchlet is thick and elongated. The culm sheath is caducous; the sheath auricles are small and unequal in size—larger auricles are narrowly oblong to lanceolate; the sheath ligule has a dentate-serrate margin; the sheath blade is erect and readily deciduous. The leaf sheath is glabrous, with a raised dorsal ridge and distinct longitudinal ribs; the auricle is typically sickle-shaped, bearing curved, radiating hairs along its margin; the ligule (paraphyll) margin is erose; leaf blades are linear-lanceolate to narrow-lanceolate, generally 9–17 cm long and 1–2 cm wide, with an acuminate apex bearing a slender, subulate tip, and a rounded or cuneate base.
Botanical Description: Schizostachyum chinense Rendle is also known as Leptocanna chinensis (Rendle) Chia et H. L. Fung or Bao Zhu. The culm grows up to 5–8 m tall and 2–3 cm in diameter. Internodes are 30–45 cm long; the upper half is white-pilose when young and becomes glabrous with age. Branching typically begins above the third node and extends horizontally. The culm sheath is purplish-red (prunus-colored) when young, turning withered yellow with age; its length is usually about half that of the internode; the sheath apex is nearly trapezoidal; the sheath auricles are narrow-linear; the sheath ligule is nearly entire; the sheath blade is narrow-triangular with a long, acutely pointed apex; its margin is inflexed (incurved) near the apex. The leaf sheath is glabrous, with a purplish-red apex; leaf auricles and sheath hairs bear awns; the ligule (paraphyll) is truncate. Leaf blades are lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 15–26 cm long and 3–4.5 cm wide, with 7–9 pairs of secondary veins; cross-veins are conspicuous; the apex is long-acuminate; the base is rounded or broadly cuneate; petioles are purplish-red, glabrous, and approximately 5 mm long. The flowering branch is 35–40 cm long, with internodes 3–6 cm in length; secondary branches are 5–10 cm long, subtended at the base by sheath-like bracts that are amplexicaul (stem-clasping).
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