Bi Cheng Qie – Litsea – Fructus Litseae

Bi Cheng Qie

English Name: litsea, mountain pepper, cubeb fruit

Pharmaceutical Name: Fructus Litseae

Medica Category: Interior-Warming Herbs

Properties: Bi Cheng Qie enters the Spleen, Stomach, Kidney, and Urinary Bladder channels; it is acrid in nature and warm in temperature.

What is Bi Cheng Qie?:

The Chinese Herb Bi Cheng Qie is the aromatic dried fruit of litsea, (aka mountain pepper—Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers.), a deciduous shrub/tree in the laurel family that grows at higher elevations throughout South, Central, and Eastern China (and across other parts of Southeast Asia as well). The aromatic fruits ripen in the late summer when they are harvested (or gathered) and dried for use as medicine.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Therapeutic Actions of Bi Cheng Qie:

Bi Cheng Qie warms the middle, promotes digestion, and descends qi of the Stomach and Spleen to address cold-related gastrointestinal conditions with such presenting symptoms as poor appetite, hiccups, nausea, and vomiting.

Bi Cheng Qie dispel cold in the urinary bladder to address deficiency and cold in the lower jiao that presents with dysuria with cloudy/turbid urine.