What it is:
This herb is the above- ground part of Artemisia annua L. (family Compositae), produced in most parts of China, collected in summer and autumn, dried in shade or in sun- light, cut to pieces, and used unprepared or fresh.

Property:
Bitter and pungent in flavour, cold in property, acting on the liver, gallbla- dder and kidney channels.

Effects:
Removing heat from the blood, bringing down hectic fever, clearing away heat from the gall- bladder, preventing the recurrence of malaria and relieving summer-heat.

Used for:
1. Febrile diseases at the later stage with an accumu- lation of heat in the yin system marked by nocturnal fever, or lingering low-grade fever after febrile diseases. It is often used with turtle shell and dried re- hmannia root, as in Decoction of Sweet Worm-wood and Turtle Shell (Qinghao Biejia Tang). For bone-heat syndrome with tidal fever, night fever, feverish sensation in the palms and soles due to yin deficiency, it can be used with large -leaf gentiana and turtle shell, as in Powder of Large -leaf Gentiana and Turtle Shell (Qing jiao Biejia San).

2. Malaria with alternate fevers and chills. It is often used with scutellaria root and pinellia tuber, as in Sweet Wormwood and Scute- llaria Decoction for Clearing Away Damp- heat from the Gall bladder (HaoQin QingdanTang).

3. Affection by summer-heat charac- terized by fever with or without sweating, dizziness and head- ache. It is often used with talc and lotus leaf. The herb is also used to treat infantile fever dur- ing summer months, often in combination with wolfberry bark and anemarrhena rhizome.

Dosage and administrations: 3- 10g, decocted in water for an oral dose.

Precautions:
This herb should not be decocted over a long period of time.