What it is:
This herb is the fruit of Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl (Family Oleaeae), produced most- ly in the provinces of Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi and Gansu. The fruit collected when it is beginning to ripen is called green forsythia and the fruit. The green one is considered better medicinally and is used unpre- pared.

Property:
Bitter in flavour, slightly cold in property, acting on the lung, heart and gallbladder channels.

Effects:
Clear- ing away heat, de- toxicating, subduing swelling and dissolving lumps.

Used for:
1. Affection by the exopathogenic wind-heat,or epidemic febrile diseases at the earlly stage, manifested as fever, headache and thirst. It is often used with honeysuckle flower, as in Powder of Lonicera and Forsythia (Yin Qiao San). For attacks of heat on the pericard- ium manifested as high fever, rest- lessness and uncon- sciousness, it is often used with rhinoceros horn and lotus plumule, as in Decoction for Removing Heat from the Pericardium (Qinggong Tang).

2. Various kinds of suppurative infec- tions on the body surface, or scrofula and tuberculous adenitis due to accumulation of no- xious heat. This is an important herb for various infec- tions on the body surface and is often used with honeysuckle flower, wild chry- santhemum flower and dandelion. For the treatment of scrofula and tuberculous adenitis, it is often used with prunella spike and fritillary bulb.

Dosage and administration: 6- 15g, decocted in water for an oral dose.