Hai Jin Sha – Lygodium Spores – Herba Lygodii

Hai Jin Sha

English Name: lygodium spores

Literal Translation: “golden sand of the sea”

Pharmaceutical Name: Herba Lygodii

Medica Category: Water-Regulating and Damp-Resolving Herbs

Properties: Hai Jin Sha enters the Urinary Bladder and Small Intestine channels; it is sweet and bland in nature and cold in temperature.

What is Hai Jin Sha?:

The Chinese Herb Hai Jin Sha is the spores of a large, climbing tropical fern native to Taiwan, Japan, and other parts of Southeast Asia in the genus Lygodium known as the Japanese climbing fern– Lygodium japonicum (Thumb.).  Its large leaves produce spores for reproduction that are collected and used as medicine.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Therapeutic Actions of Hai Jin Sha:

Hai Jin Sha promotes diuresis and expels stones and can be used to treat lin zheng (dysuria syndrome) with burning sensations, blood in the urine (hematuria), turbid/cloudy urine, and/or urinary stones. It is also commonly used in formula to help expel gallstones.

Hai Jin Sha eliminates water accumulation in the middle jiao that is obstructing the Spleen’s function of dispelling (normal) dampness. Clinical expressions of this imbalance are abdominal distention and fullness (w/bloating), dyspnea when lying on one’s back, and generalized edema.