08/12/2025
The monograph I wrote on forsythia has gone live.
Forsythia (Forsythia suspensa) 🏵
Family: Oleaceae
Common names: Weeping forsythia, Golden bell
🧪Preparations:
- Qing qiao: The young, unopened, green fruit capsules are cleaned of impurities, steamed and sun-dried.
- Lao qiao: The mature, opened, yellow capsules are cleaned of impurities and sun-dried.
Forsythia is one of the most important herbs in Chinese medicine for clearing heat, along with honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), with which it is frequently combined. This gives it many uses for inflammatory-type disorders that express themselves with redness, swelling and heat.
One of its primary uses is in the treatment of contagious febrile disorders with fever and sore throat, cough, red eyes, mouth ulcers, irritability and in severe cases, delirium, rashes and subcutaneous bleeding.
It can also be used for interior inflammatory conditions such as intestinal and lung abscesses, lumps and nodules as a result of lymphatic obstruction.
🌎️Sustainability: Forsythia suspensa is not currently listed on the IUCN redlist, as it is considered stable with no major threats to its population. The plant is able to thrive in multiple different conditions including drought, and temperature fluctuations and therefore grows abundantly in its native habitat.
🌿Habitat: Native to central and east-central China. It is primarily cultivated in the Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan provinces.
Discover more at: https://www.herbalreality.com/herb/forsythia/
