Chinese Elder Leaf and Stem

Traditional Use

Primary Actions

• Dispels wind-damp and relaxes the channels - Lu Ying is traditionally used for rheumatic pain, lower-back and leg pain, and stiffness that worsens with dampness.
• Promotes urination and reduces swelling - classical and regional sources use it for edema, swollen feet, and damp accumulation affecting the limbs.
• Activates blood and reduces traumatic swelling - folk and materia medica traditions extend its use to bruises, fractures, postpartum lochia retention, and painful swelling after injury.
• Clears toxic swelling externally - washes, poultices, and powders are used for itching rashes, erysipelas-type redness, carbuncles, and inflamed sores.

Secondary Actions

• Despite the historical slug, Lu Ying is a stems-and-leaves medicine rather than a flower drug, and the whole identity of the material matters for correct use.
• It sits closer to regional damp-trauma practice than to the cold-and-flu reputation many English speakers associate with European elderflower.

Classic Formulas

• Lu Ying with Yi Yi Ren or other damp-draining herbs - regional strategy for edema, damp arthralgia, and swollen painful legs.
• Lu Ying with Dang Gui, Chuan Xiong, or Ru Xiang - folk trauma combinations for bruises, fractures, or postpartum stagnant pain.
• Topical Lu Ying washes or poultices - traditional external-use approach for urticaria, erysipelas, toxic swelling, and itchy wind-damp skin eruptions.

Classical References

• ShennongAlpha and related materia medica summaries describe Lu Ying as the stems and leaves of Sambucus chinensis used to dispel wind, promote diuresis, relax tendons, and activate blood.
• Older discussions cite it for wind-damp arthralgia, edema, bruises, lochia retention, and itchy rashes, showing a broad pattern of damp-swelling and trauma use.
• Later regional herb manuals also extend Lu Ying to hepatitis, dysentery, tonsillitis, mastitis, burns, and fractures, especially in external or folk settings.