Bai Wei

Radix Cynanchi Atrati (Baiwei) Blackend Swallowwort Root Blackend Swallowwort Root is the dired root and rhizome of Cynanchum atratum Bge. or Cynan. chum versicolor Bge. (Fam. Asclepiadaceae). The drug is collected in spring and autumn, washed clean, and dried. Description: Rhizomes thick and short, knotty, mostly tortuous. Some rounded stem scars occurring at the upper part and numerous slender roots fascicled bilaterally at the lower part. Roots 10-25 cm long, 1-2 mm in diameter. Externally brownish-yellow. Texture fragile, easily broken, fracture yellowish-white in bark and yellow in wood. Odour, slight; taste, slightly bitter. Processing: Eliminate foreign matter, wash clean, soften thoroughly, cut into sections, and dry. Action: To remove heat from blood, to relieve dysuria, and to counteract toxicity and cure sores. Indications: Febrile diseases with invasion of the pathogenic factors into the blood; fever due to deficiency of yin, phthisis, or due to deficiency of blood aft