Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Ophiopogon japonicus
Pronounced Ophiopogon: oh-fee-oh-POH-gon. Ophiopogon japonicus: oh-fee-oh-POH-gon jah-PON-ih-kus. Mai Men Dong: my mun dong.
Cool and moistening: a sweet, fluid-generating yin tonic that bathes a dry, spent Lung and Stomach, replenishes wasted fluids, and cools the restless heat of depletion.
Likely low risk when constitutionally appropriate, but use only under a qualified practitioner. Ophiopogon is not an emmenagogue or reputed abortifacient, and Chinese medicine has long used it during pregnancy for yin-deficient dry cough and thirst under supervision, yet reliable modern human safety data for medicinal doses in pregnancy are lacking, and its cool, sweet, cloying moisture can aggravate the Spleen-deficiency dampness common in pregnancy. Avoid casual self-prescription; defer to a practitioner. Modern references consulted: AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook (2nd ed.); Chen and Chen, Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology; Bensky, Clavey and Stoger, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica (3rd ed.); Brinker, Herbal Contraindications and Drug Interactions.
No specific modern lactation safety data. It is a food-grade yin tonic and some traditional sources regard it as fluid-generating and mildly supportive of milk, but human breastfeeding data are absent, so use only under professional guidance and prefer better-studied alternatives if a moistening tonic is needed. Sources: Chen and Chen, Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology; Bensky, Clavey and Stoger, Materia Medica (3rd ed.).
Used in pediatric Chinese medicine for dry cough, dry throat, and thirst, in low, short courses and under supervision. Its cool, moist nature can loosen the stool and burden a child's digestion, so it should be avoided in cold-damp, phlegmy, or diarrheal children and reserved to a qualified practitioner for genuine yin-deficient dryness. Sources: Chen and Chen, Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology; Bensky, Clavey and Stoger, Materia Medica (3rd ed.).
Sweet, cool, moist, and slightly cloying: it readily burdens weak digestion, dampens the Spleen, and worsens loose stools, dampness, or phlegm if given to cold-damp or Spleen-deficient people, so it is best paired with qi-tonifying, aromatic, or Spleen-protective herbs when digestion is weak, and it should not be used to moisten an acute wind-cold cough. Certain ophiopogonin steroidal saponin isomers show hemolytic activity in vitro, a laboratory finding not established as a clinical hazard at food or decoction doses but worth noting. It is otherwise a benign, food-grade tonic with a wide margin of safety.
Spleen and Stomach deficiency-cold with diarrhea or loose stools; damp accumulation and phlegm-damp cough; acute exterior wind-cold with a wet cough (TCM functional contraindications). Not a documented reproductive toxin, emmenagogue, or abortifacient, but self-prescription in pregnancy is discouraged without practitioner guidance because robust modern human data are lacking and its cool, cloying moisture can aggravate the Spleen-deficiency dampness common in pregnancy. Caution with antidiabetic medication (additive glucose-lowering; see Drug Interactions).
Not at risk. Ophiopogon japonicus (dwarf lilyturf, mondo grass) is one of the most widely planted ornamental ground-covers in the world and is farmed on a large agricultural scale for the herb trade in China (notably Sichuan/Chuan Mai Dong and Zhejiang/Hang Mai Dong), so supply comes from cultivation rather than wild harvest. It spreads readily by stolons and can become weedy or locally naturalized outside its range. Not listed by United Plant Savers (a North American native-plant registry).
Not in canonical biblical texts, and unknown to the ancient Mediterranean world; native to East Asia (China, Japan, and Korea). Its documented tradition is Chinese: it entered the materia medica in the Han-era Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as Mai Men Dong, ranked among the superior (jun) longevity tonics, and was carried through every later Chinese and Japanese (Kampo, as Bakumondo) pharmacopoeia.
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