Jin Qian Cao (Lysimachia)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Jin Qian Cao?

  15–30 g in decoction, with a maximum of about 60 g — both reference ranges carried in our own record agree on 15–30 g as the standard decoction dose, and one of them records a ceiling near 60 g. This is a notably high dose for a Chinese herb, and it is possible precisely because the herb is bland and neutral rather than harshly cold or draining. It is also used externally, fresh or as a wash, for the sore-and-swelling indications.

  • 15–30 g in decoction — the standard range in both reference traditions carried in our record.
  • Up to roughly 60 g — the upper ceiling recorded for stone-related use; a practitioner-level dose, not a self-care one.
  • Topical use — applied externally for swellings, sores, lesions, abscesses, trauma and bites.

  Source: our own herb record (both cited ranges and the external application). Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Are there cautions for Jin Qian Cao?

  Use with caution where there is Spleen-deficiency diarrhoea. That is the caution carried in our own record, and it follows from what the herb does: it drains and moves water downward, which is the wrong direction for someone whose stools are already loose from weak digestion. Beyond that, the practical caution with this herb is not toxicity but identity — because several unrelated plants are sold under the name, knowing which species is in the bag matters more here than for almost any other herb in the category.

  • Spleen-deficiency diarrhoea — use with caution; the herb’s draining direction can aggravate loose stools from deficiency.
  • Species substitution — the several plants dispensed as Jin Qian Cao differ chemically; quality-control studies show measurable compositional variation even within a single species by growing region. See the identity note above.
  • Stones are a medical condition — urinary and biliary stones require diagnosis and monitoring by a qualified clinician; herbal use belongs alongside, not instead of, that care.

  Source: our own herb record (Spleen-deficiency caution); habitat-based compositional variation in Lysimachiae Herba per PMID 38316219, PMID 35889488, PMC 9315811, and PMID 37802805. Neutral reference safety information, not medical advice.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• Jin Qian Cao is not classed as a toxic herb. Our own record notes only that allergic reactions have rarely been reported after overdose, presenting with redness and rash. It is not on the toxic or endangered list, and it is used at unusually high doses (15–30 g, up to about 60 g) without an established toxicity ceiling, which is consistent with its bland, neutral character.

  Source: our own herb record. Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

Herb-Drug Interactions

• Does Jin Qian Cao interact with medications?

  The documented precaution is with pharmaceutical diuretics. Because Jin Qian Cao itself promotes urination, our own record advises caution in patients already taking diuretic drugs, where additive fluid and electrolyte loss is conceivable. Beyond that, no well-established clinical herb–drug interactions are documented. Practitioner awareness is reasonable for anyone under active treatment for kidney or gallbladder stones, or on medication where fluid balance matters.

  Source: our own herb record. Precautionary note flagged for practitioner confirmation, not a demonstrated clinical interaction.

Western / Biomedical Research

Chinese Herb Clinical Studies & Research

Provided as research context — a summary of published biomedical study, not a therapeutic or medical claim.

• Is there modern research on Jin Qian Cao (Lysimachia christinae / Desmodium styracifolium)?

  Yes — and helpfully, the two plants dispensed under this name have been studied along the two lines their traditional reputations would predict: Lysimachia christinae mainly for gallstones and the biliary system, Desmodium styracifolium mainly for urinary stones. Almost all of it is animal or cell work; human clinical evidence is thin.

  Lysimachia christinae (the plant behind the common name in our entry):

  • Gallstones — an extract regressed pre-established cholesterol gallstones in mice (PMID 25794804), and an aqueous extract prevented cholesterol gallstone formation in mice with an effect traced to the intestinal microflora (PMID 34261853, PMC 9706107).
  • Bile flow and gallbladder inflammation — extracts were evaluated as anticholecystitis and cholagogic agents in animals (PMID 21524697).
  • Antioxidant and vascular — extract fractions studied under the name Jin Qian Cao showed antioxidant and endothelial-protective activity (PMID 29636055, PMC 5894240) and endothelium-dependent vasodilatation (PMID 31055581).
  • Uric acid — an aqueous extract lowered uric acid in a hyperuricaemia mouse model (PMID 12776538) — the study already cited in our own record.
  • Chemistry and quality — triterpene saponins have been characterised (PMID 18335347), and fingerprint studies show chemical composition varies measurably by growing region (PMID 38316219, PMID 35889488, PMC 9315811).

  Desmodium styracifolium (the plant behind the Latin in our entry, Guang Jin Qian Cao):

  • Urinary stones — total flavonoids attenuated calcium-oxalate stone formation in rats (PMID 28567512); different polarity fractions showed antilithic effects in experimental urolithiasis (PMID 26123751); a carboxymethylated polysaccharide reduced calcium-oxalate stone risk by inhibiting crystal adhesion (PMID 38646844).
  • Kidney protection — polysaccharide fractions reduced calcium-oxalate-induced renal injury and fibrosis in animals (PMID 40897849, PMC 12405447).
  • Constituents — the flavone glycoside schaftoside is a marker compound, with pharmacokinetic modelling published for the total flavonoid fraction (PMID 36588682, PMC 9794590); a 2024 review catalogues over 200 isolated compounds and the proposed anti-stone mechanisms (PMID 38317880, PMC 10838797).

  None of these findings is clinical proof in people, and none should be read as a therapeutic claim. Note also that comparative work exists directly on the two species together (PMID 3197221) — a reminder that they are studied as distinct medicinals even though they share a name.

  Sources: PMID 25794804; PMID 34261853, PMC 9706107; PMID 21524697; PMID 29636055, PMC 5894240; PMID 31055581; PMID 12776538; PMID 18335347; PMID 38316219; PMID 35889488, PMC 9315811; PMID 37802805; PMID 28567512; PMID 26123751; PMID 38646844; PMID 40897849, PMC 12405447; PMID 36588682, PMC 9794590; PMID 38317880, PMC 10838797, DOI 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25058; PMID 3197221. Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• Why are several different plants all called Jin Qian Cao?

  Because “Jin Qian Cao” is a descriptive folk name, not a botanical one — it simply means “gold coin herb,” after the round, coin-shaped leaves. Several unrelated plants have round leaves, so several unrelated plants ended up carrying the name in different regions of China. This is one of the most consequential naming collisions in the whole materia medica, because the plants involved are from entirely different botanical families and are not chemically interchangeable.

  The plants most often sold or dispensed under the name:

  • Lysimachia christinae Hance (Primulaceae) — the plant behind the common name recorded in our own entry, and the one referred to in the research literature simply as “Jin Qian Cao” / Lysimachiae Herba. Best known in modern work for gallstone and biliary effects.
  • Desmodium styracifolium (Osbeck) Merr. (Fabaceae) — the plant behind the pharmaceutical Latin recorded in our own entry. In Chinese it is distinguished as Guang Jin Qian Cao (“Guangdong gold coin herb”) and it is the source most studied for urinary stones.
  • Glechoma longituba (Lamiaceae) — properly Lian Qian Cao, a separate entry in its own right, but frequently confused with and substituted for Jin Qian Cao.
  • Regional substitutes from still other families are also reported under the same folk name.

  Identity note (unresolved, kept as recorded): our own entry pairs the common name Lysimachia with the pharmaceutical Latin Herba Desmodii Styrachifolii — that is, it names one plant and cites the Latin of another. Both are genuinely dispensed as Jin Qian Cao, and much of the older English-language TCM literature does exactly the same thing, so this is not a stray error so much as an inherited ambiguity. The Chinese characters recorded here are 金千草, while the form usually written for “gold coin herb” is 金钱草 — the second character differs, and our own English translation field (“Gold Money Herb”) matches the latter. We have left the identity fields exactly as recorded pending owner confirmation, and set out both plants above so readers can see which one they are actually holding.

  How is Jin Qian Cao different from Hai Jin Sha?

  Both promote urination, unblock stones and clear heat — Jin Qian Cao reaches further upstream. Jin Qian Cao goes to the root by clearing damp-heat from the Liver and Gallbladder, which is why it covers gallstones and jaundice as well as urinary stones. Hai Jin Sha works on the Small Intestine and Urinary Bladder, so its reach is narrower and more strictly urinary.

  Source: our own herb record (identity fields, differentiation from Hai Jin Sha); botanical naming and the Guang Jin Qian Cao distinction per PMID 38317880, PMC 10838797, DOI 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25058; a direct comparative anti-inflammatory study of the two species is indexed as PMID 3197221. Cross-referenced against multiple online sources.