Clove Fruit — Classic Formulas
Mu Ding Xiang · Fructus Caryophylli
Primary Actions
- Warms the Spleen and Stomach and disperses interior cold - Mu Ding Xiang is used for middle-burner cold with abdominal discomfort, poor appetite, loose stool, and cold-type digestive weakness.
- Directs rebellious Stomach Qi downward - like the flower bud, the fruit is used for retching, hiccup, nausea, and vomiting when deficiency-cold is the driving pattern.
- Warms Kidney Yang and supports cold lower-jiao patterns - traditional use extends to impotence and cold pain below the umbilicus when warming support is needed.
Classic Formulas
- Mu Ding Xiang with Ding Xiang - paired bud-and-fruit logic when a fuller clove warming profile is desired for chronic cold in the middle burner.
- Mu Ding Xiang with Ban Xia and Sheng Jiang - cold-type nausea and vomiting strategy centered on warming and descending.
- Mu Ding Xiang with Sha Ren or Bai Zhu - Spleen-Stomach deficiency-cold combination logic when loose stool and poor appetite accompany rebellious Qi.
Classical Text References
- TCM Wiki classifies Mu Ding Xiang within the same warming-interior family as Ding Xiang, with actions of warming the Spleen and Stomach, directing rebellious Qi downward, and restoring Kidney Yang.
- American Dragon notes that Mu Ding Xiang is the fruit of the same plant and is often considered less immediately forceful than the flower bud while still sharing the same cold-dispelling and descending direction.
- Older commercial and materia-medica summaries sometimes mention blood-entering or labor-inducing aspects for Mu Ding Xiang, which is one reason pregnancy caution is stronger here than with ordinary culinary clove exposure.