Luo Shi Teng (Star Jasmine Stem)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Luo Shi Teng?

  6–15 g in decoction — both of the standard references our record carries agree on that range. The material is a woody, leafy stem, so it is chopped and decocted rather than powdered, and it is normally cooked with the main decoction from the start.

  • 6–15 g in decoction or herbal wine (Chen & Chen).
  • 6–15 g in decoction (Bensky, 3rd ed.).
  • Medicated wine — the herb is also traditionally steeped in wine for chronic bi syndrome, the customary format for wind-damp vines.
  • External use — for sores and swellings the fresh or decocted herb is applied topically in traditional practice, in addition to internal use.

  Source: our own dosage record (both references in agreement); published materia medica consensus, cross-referenced against multiple online sources. Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Are there cautions for Luo Shi Teng?

  Our record lists none, and no specific traditional contraindication is recorded for this herb in the standard materia medica. The cautions that apply are those of the category and of common sense, and one genuine sourcing issue.

  • Cold patterns and weak digestion — Luo Shi Teng is bitter and slightly cold. It is the wrong vine for wind-damp obstruction that is cold in character, and prolonged use in someone with a cold, weak digestion is inadvisable. This follows from the herb’s nature rather than from a recorded contraindication.
  • Pregnancy and long courses — use only with a qualified practitioner, as for the wind-damp category generally.
  • Do not self-collect from the garden. The ornamental climber in Western gardens is the same species, but the medicinal material is a specific plant part, harvested at a specific stage and dried and processed; garden plants are also routinely treated with pesticides. Cut stems exude a milky latex that can irritate skin, as with other Apocynaceae. This is a practical caution, not a documented poisoning report.
  • Substitution in the market is documented — see below.

  Sourcing and authenticity (documented). DNA-barcoding work on this herb states directly that “the use of the plant’s local alternatives is frequent, causing potential clinical problems,” and notes that the material is sold dried and sliced, which makes visual identification difficult; the authors validated the ITS2 barcode region as able to identify T. jasminoides against its local substitutes and proposed it as a market monitor (PMID 28698616, PMC 5506054). Buying from a supplier who can identify the botanical species, not merely the trade name, is therefore a real quality issue for this herb.

  Source: our own herb record (no cautions recorded); category cautions per published materia medica consensus, cross-referenced against multiple online sources; substitution in the market per PMID 28698616 (PMC 5506054). Neutral reference facts, not usage instructions.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• Is Luo Shi Teng toxic? It is in the same family as oleander — does that matter?

  Luo Shi Teng is not classified as a toxic herb in the Chinese materia medica, our record does not flag it as toxic, and no cardiac glycosides or cardiotoxicity have been reported for Trachelospermum jasminoides in the literature we located. The family question is worth answering directly rather than dodging, because it comes up.

  • The family concern is real in general. The Apocynaceae does contain seriously cardiotoxic plants — oleander (Nerium oleander) and yellow oleander (Cascabela / Thevetia) are classic cardiac-glycoside poisons responsible for documented human fatalities (PMID 8619248, PMID 19306191). Milky latex and membership of this family are therefore reasonable prompts to ask the question.
  • It does not transfer to this species. Cardiac glycosides are confined to particular lineages within the family, not shared across it. The isolated chemistry of T. jasminoides is dominated by lignans (dibenzylbutyrolactone types such as the nortrachelogenin glycosides), triterpenoids, flavonoids, sterols and indole alkaloids — a 2017 review of the genus counted 138 characterised constituents across Trachelospermum and identified lignans, triterpenoids and flavonoids as the major bioactive groups, with no cardiac-glycoside class reported (PMID 28837110, PMC 6151751; PMID 15678384).
  • What we are not saying. We are not importing oleander’s toxicity into this record on the strength of a shared family, and we are not asserting that the herb has been proven safe.

  The honest gap. The same 2017 genus review states that “there are few reports concerning the clinical use and toxicity of these plants” and calls specifically for toxicology data and quality-control measures to be gathered (PMID 28837110). Absence of reported harm is not demonstrated safety, and that is the correct position to hold on this herb.

  Source: our own herb record (not flagged toxic); constituent classes per PMID 28837110 (PMC 6151751) and PMID 15678384; family-level cardiac-glycoside toxicity per PMID 8619248 and PMID 19306191, cited to explain why it does not apply here. Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

Herb-Drug Interactions

• No established clinical herb–drug interactions are documented for Luo Shi Teng. No human interaction reports and no clinical pharmacokinetic studies of this herb were located. Two mechanism-level points are worth a practitioner’s awareness rather than a warning: laboratory work shows the water extract has measurable anti-inflammatory activity, suppressing TNF-alpha and nitric oxide in animal models (PMID 19703536), and extract of the vine inhibits osteoclast differentiation in cell culture (PMID 32554249). Neither has been shown to alter the handling of any medicine in humans. Anyone taking anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressant or bone-active prescription medication should confirm use with their prescriber and a qualified practitioner. (Precautionary and mechanism-free; not a demonstrated interaction.)

  Source: PMID 19703536; PMID 32554249. Preclinical context only, not clinical guidance.

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 Luo Shi Teng (Trachelospermum jasminoides)?

  Yes, and it converges consistently on anti-inflammatory activity — the mechanism that would sit behind the traditional wind-damp and hot-sore indications. All of it is preclinical: no clinical trials of this herb were located. The chemistry is well described; the pharmacology is at the cell and animal stage; the toxicology is largely unstudied.

  • Chemistry. A 2017 review of the genus Trachelospermum reports 138 characterised constituents, principally from T. asiaticum and T. jasminoides, with lignans, triterpenoids and flavonoids as the major bioactive groups (PMID 28837110, PMC 6151751). Seven dibenzylbutyrolactone lignans, including three new compounds and a rare C-glucosyl lignan, were isolated from the leaves and stems (PMID 15678384).
  • Anti-inflammatory constituents (cell models). Both water and ethyl ester extracts of the stem-with-leaves material strongly inhibited nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages; 23 compounds were isolated, of which four inhibited nitric oxide dose-dependently, and one also significantly reduced TNF-alpha and interleukin-6 and suppressed iNOS protein expression (PMID 34963182).
  • Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity (animal). A water extract reduced acetic-acid writhing and late-phase formalin pain in mice, and inhibited carrageenan-induced paw oedema, with lowered malondialdehyde and nitric oxide in the paw and lowered serum nitric oxide and TNF-alpha; the extract fingerprinted for gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, taxifolin, isoquercitrin and quercetin (PMID 19703536).
  • A single isolated constituent. Beta-sitosterol-beta-D-glucoside from the plant was the most active of five isolates in reducing nitric oxide, interleukin-6, TNF-alpha and interleukin-1-beta in stimulated macrophages (PMID 22292934).
  • Bone and joint (cell models). Extract of the dried vines inhibited osteoclast differentiation and bone-resorption function without cytotoxicity, acting through NF-kappaB, MAPK and AKT signalling to the NFATc1/c-Fos pathway (PMID 32554249). A related network-pharmacology analysis modelled the herb’s constituents against rheumatoid arthritis targets (PMID 32840241) — computational, not clinical.
  • Authentication. The ITS2 barcode region was validated on 127 sequences as able to distinguish T. jasminoides from the local substitutes frequently sold in its place, and proposed as a routine market monitor (PMID 28698616, PMC 5506054).

  Human evidence: none located. No clinical trials of Luo Shi Teng were found, and the genus review explicitly flags the lack of clinical and toxicological data as the gap needing attention.

  Sources: PMID 28837110 / PMC 6151751 / DOI 10.3390/molecules22091406 (genus review: phytochemistry, pharmacology, traditional uses, and the stated toxicology gap); PMID 15678384 (lignans); PMID 34963182 (anti-inflammatory constituents of Caulis Trachelospermi); PMID 19703536 / DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2009.08.019 (analgesic and anti-inflammatory water extract, mice); PMID 22292934 (beta-sitosterol-beta-D-glucoside); PMID 32554249 / DOI 10.1016/j.biopha.2020.110341 (osteoclast differentiation); PMID 32840241 (network pharmacology, rheumatoid arthritis); PMID 28698616 / PMC 5506054 / DOI 10.1038/s41598-017-04674-w (ITS2 barcoding and market monitoring). Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• What plant is Luo Shi Teng, and is it the star jasmine grown in gardens?

  Yes — Luo Shi Teng is the stem of Trachelospermum jasminoides (Lindl.) Lem., the star jasmine or Confederate jasmine widely planted as an evergreen climber on walls, fences and pergolas across the warmer parts of Europe, Australia and the southern United States. It is one of the very few Chinese materia medica plants that most Western readers already have within walking distance. Despite the common name it is not a true jasmine (Jasminum, Oleaceae); it belongs to the Apocynaceae, the dogbane family, and a cut stem or leaf bleeds a distinctive milky white latex — the family’s signature. The medicinal material is the dried stem, harvested from the woody vine rather than from the flowers.

  How is Luo Shi Teng different from Hai Feng Teng and Qing Feng Teng?

  The three are separate plants from three unrelated families that share a name-shape (“… wind vine” / “… vine”) and an overlapping bi-syndrome indication. This site has already had to disentangle them once, on the Hai Feng Teng record, and the distinctions hold here:

  • Luo Shi Teng (络石藤) — Trachelospermum jasminoides, Apocynaceae. Bitter, slightly cold. The choice when the obstruction has heat, and the only one of the three that also cools blood and treats hot sores and sore throat.
  • Hai Feng Teng (海风臼) — Piper kadsura, Piperaceae, held on this site. Spicy, bitter, slightly warm; Liver and Kidney channels. A general-purpose bi-syndrome vine not committed to a hot or cold presentation.
  • Qing Feng Teng (青风臼) — Sinomenium acutum, Menispermaceae, whose principal alkaloid is sinomenine. It is not currently a separate entry in our herb collection; it is named here because it is the most frequent source of confusion with the other two in English-language material.

  Practically: heat in the joint → Luo Shi Teng; neutral or cold → Hai Feng Teng. That is the working distinction, and it follows directly from the recorded natures.

  Which formula contains Luo Shi Teng?

  In our own formula records Luo Shi Teng appears in E Jiao Ji Zi Huang Tang (Ass Hide Gelatin and Egg Yolk Decoction, from the Revised Popular Guide to the Discussion of Cold-Induced Disorders), at 9 g, for blood and yin deficiency generating internal wind. Its role there is not the wind-damp one but the collateral-opening one — releasing tension in the sinews while the rest of the formula nourishes. (Traditional formula context, not treatment advice.)

  Two identity notes, flagged rather than changed. (1) Our pharmaceutical Latin reads Caulis Trachelospermi Jasminoidis — stem only. The material as defined in the Chinese pharmacopoeia and as described in the chemical literature is the stem together with the leaves; a 2022 phytochemical study describes Caulis Trachelospermi plainly as “the stems with leaves of Trachelospermum jasminoides… recorded in the Chinese pharmacopeia” (PMID 34963182). This is a nuance of the Latin, not a wrong plant. (2) Our channel field lists the Liver alone; several published references additionally assign Heart and Kidney channels. Both fields are left exactly as held and are noted here for owner decision.

  Source: our own herb and formula records (Latin, Chinese, translation, channel, E Jiao Ji Zi Huang Tang composition); our own Hai Feng Teng record for the vine comparison; botanical identity and family per PMID 28837110 (PMC 6151751) and PMID 22292934 (which places the plant in the Apocynaceae); plant part per PMID 34963182. Identity notes for owner review, not corrections.