Sinopodophyllum Fruit

Traditional Use

Primary Actions

• Regulates menstruation and activates Blood - Xiao Ye Lian is a rare toxic gynecologic herb used for amenorrhea, delayed menses, or fixed lower-abdominal pain when Blood stasis is the central pattern.
• Assists the expulsion of retained products in obstructed labor patterns - older regional usage includes difficult labor, retained placenta, and stillbirth, which is why the herb is treated as a specialist medicine rather than a routine women's tonic.
• Breaks accumulation rather than nourishing deficiency - its role is to move what is stuck, especially when cold-neutral but toxic force is needed to dislodge stubborn stasis.

Secondary Actions

• Xiao Ye Lian is not a mainstream daily-use blood mover; it belongs to the group of toxic medicinals that require precise indication, dosage control, and experienced supervision.
• Modern interest in the plant is driven more by podophyllotoxin chemistry than by broad contemporary clinical use of the crude fruit itself.

Classical References

• Regional materia medica summaries describe Xiao Ye Lian as sweet, neutral, and toxic, emphasizing its use for amenorrhea, difficult labor, and retained fetal or placental material rather than for ordinary menstrual discomfort.
• Traditional handling treats the drug as a targeted gynecologic mover of stasis, not as a general tonic, and its toxic classification has always limited routine household use.
• Modern restricted-substance lists and conservation notes reinforce an older practical lesson: authentication and restraint matter because podophyllum-type materials are potent and easily misused.