What it is:
This herb consistsof the pulpy stem with scales of Cistan-che deserticola Y.C.Ma (family Oroban-chaceae), which is produced mainly in Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Xinjiang and Qinghai.It is collected in spring, dried in thesun and then slicedfor use.

Property:
Sweet and salty in flavour, warm in property, acting on the kidney and largeintestine channels.

Effects:
Tonifyingthe kidney, reinforcing yang, replenishing thevital essence and blood, and moisteningthe bowels to relieveconstipation.

Used for:
1. Deficiency ofthe kidney characte-rized by impotence, cold pain in the loins and knees, female sterility, etc.For impotence, it is often prescribed with prepared rehman-nia, dodder seed andschisandra fruit, asin Cistanche Pill(Roucongrong Wan) ; for cold pain in theloins and knees andlassitude of the muscles, it is usuallyused with morinda root, seven-lobed yamand eucommia bark,as in Pill for Treating Flaccidity due to Deficiency ofKidney (Jingang Wan);for female sterility,it is often used incombination with herbs for tonifying the vital essence and blood, such as antler glue, chineseangelica root,humanplacenta, etc.

2. For constipa-tion due to dryness of the bowel with the aged and the weak,it is often used to-gether with hemp seed and eagle wood,i.e. Pill of Mois-tening Bowels (Run-chang Wan). If theconstipation is dueto deficiency of blood and consumptionof body fluid, it can be used togetherwith herbs for pro-moting the productionof body fluid and norishing the blood,such as dried rehman-nia root and chineseangelica root.

Dosage and admi-nistration: 10-20g, 30g in large dosage,decocted in water for an oral dose.

Precautions:
It should not be used in cases of hyperac-tivity of fire due to yin deficiency, loose stool due to deficiency of the spleen and constipa-tion due to excess heat.