Chuan Mu Tong (Clematis)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Chuan Mu Tong?

  Roughly 3–6 g in decoction is the range carried in our reference record. It is a draining, cooling herb and is not intended for prolonged use; the classical cautions below (pregnancy, deficiency patterns) bear directly on how long and how heavily it is used.

  • Part used — the dried woody stem (caulis), not the root.
  • Range note — our record carries a dosage from one reference and no figure from a second; where materia medica sources differ, the narrower 3–6 g figure is the one we hold.

  Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references; standard materia medica dosage notes (Bensky; Chen & Chen).

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Is Chuan Mu Tong safe, and are there cautions?

  Chuan Mu Tong is contraindicated in pregnancy in our reference record, and is not used in spermatorrhea, yang deficiency or qi deficiency. It contains no aristolochic acid — but material sold as “Mu Tong” has historically been adulterated with a plant that does, so sourcing is the real safety question.

  • Pregnancy — contraindicated.
  • Deficiency patterns — not used in spermatorrhea, yang deficiency, or qi deficiency; it is cold and draining.
  • Fluids and yin — as with urination-promoting herbs generally, heavy or prolonged use is inappropriate where fluids are already depleted.
  • Species identification (the substantive issue) — aristolochic acid is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 1 human carcinogen, and is the established cause of aristolochic acid nephropathy and of upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma. That risk attaches to Aristolochia species, above all A. manshuriensis (Guan Mu Tong), not to Clematis armandii. Because Clematis armandii material has documented adulteration with A. manshuriensis, species-level verification of purchased material is a legitimate question to put to any supplier.

  Regulatory note (United Kingdom). The Medicines (Aristolochia and Mu Tong etc.) (Prohibition) Order 2001, SI 2001/1841, in force from 1 July 2001, prohibits the sale, supply and importation of medicinal products consisting of or containing any plant of the genus Aristolochia — and, separately, of a named list of substitute plants that includes Clematis armandii, Clematis montana, Akebia quinata, Akebia trifoliata, three Cocculus species and Stephania tetrandra. It further prohibits any product whose label or accompanying document indicates in any language that it consists of or contains “Mu Tong” or “Fangji”, or any term derived from those. This is a deliberately name-based, precautionary prohibition: it catches the aristolochic-acid-free substitutes as well, precisely because the names could not be relied on. Readers in the UK should understand that Chuan Mu Tong falls inside that Order despite containing no aristolochic acid. We do not assert any US or EU regulatory status here, as we were unable to verify those at primary-source level.

  Source: Sacred Lotus cautions record (pregnancy; spermatorrhea, yang and qi deficiency); UK prohibition per The Medicines (Aristolochia and Mu Tong etc.) (Prohibition) Order 2001, SI 2001 No. 1841, articles 2 and 3, read directly at legislation.gov.uk; aristolochic acid nephrotoxicity, carcinogenicity and IARC Group 1 status per PMID 31244661, PMC 6580798, DOI 10.3389/fphar.2019.00648; adulteration of Clematis armandii per PMID 37123914, DOI 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15008. Neutral reference facts, not usage instructions.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• Low for the correctly identified herb. Clematis armandii stem is not a source of aristolochic acid and no significant intrinsic toxicity is recorded for it in the traditional literature at customary doses. Stated plainly in both directions: Chuan Mu Tong itself is not implicated in aristolochic acid nephropathy and should not be avoided on that basis; equally, the aristolochic acid problem in Aristolochia-sourced material sold under Mu Tong names is serious, well documented and not something to soften. The whole of the risk here sits in what material is actually in the bag, which is a sourcing and quality-control matter rather than a property of this plant.

  Source: materia medica consensus; botanical family placement and adulteration data per PMID 37123914; aristolochic acid content of Aristolochia manshuriensis per PMID 31685246. Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

Herb-Drug Interactions

• Chuan Mu Tong promotes urination and may interfere with Diuretic drugs.

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 Chuan Mu Tong (Clematis armandii)?

  Yes — the research base is modest and mostly phytochemical, centred on lignans with anti-inflammatory activity in cell models, plus analytical work driven by the need to tell genuine Clematis armandii apart from aristolochic-acid-containing adulterants. There are no human clinical trials of the herb that we could resolve.

  • Lignans and anti-neuroinflammatory activity (cell) — a 2014 Journal of Ethnopharmacology study isolated one new and sixteen known lignans from the dried stems of Clematis armandii, noting that the material is named “Chuan-Mu-Tong” in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia and traditionally used mainly for inflammation-associated conditions. Several isolates inhibited nitric oxide and TNF-alpha production in lipopolysaccharide-activated microglial cells. Laboratory research.
  • Boehmenan (cell) — a 2016 Phytomedicine study of boehmenan, a lignan from the dried stems, reported concentration-dependent suppression of proliferation and induction of apoptosis in A549 lung cancer cells via mitochondrial and EGFR-pathway modulation. In-vitro only; not a therapeutic claim.
  • Quality control and identification — a 2023 Heliyon study isolated oleanolic acid from Clematis armandii and validated a chromatographic method to distinguish it from its adulterants Aristolochia manshuriensis and Iodes vitiginea, stating that A. manshuriensis must not be part of any herbal medicine because it contains aristolochic acid I.
  • The contrast, for completeness — six aristolochic acids (I, II, IIIa, IVa and two aristolic acids) were separated at greater than 98% purity from Aristolochia manshuriensis stems in a 2020 chromatography study, the authors noting these compounds “may cause Chinese herb nephropathy during clinical application”. That is the other plant, and it is the reason identification matters.

  The available research is preclinical and analytical. It is consistent with the traditional heat-clearing, inflammation-related use, and it independently supports the identity point made above.

  Sources: PMID 24661966, DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2014.03.036 (lignans, anti-neuroinflammatory, cell study); PMID 27064005, DOI 10.1016/j.phymed.2016.02.006 (boehmenan, in-vitro); PMID 37123914, PMC 10133656, DOI 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15008 (identification and adulteration); PMID 31685246, DOI 10.1016/j.chroma.2019.460657 (aristolochic acids from Aristolochia manshuriensis); PMID 31244661, PMC 6580798, DOI 10.3389/fphar.2019.00648 (aristolochic acid overview). Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• Is Mu Tong the herb that contains aristolochic acid? How do Chuan Mu Tong, Guan Mu Tong and Akebia differ?

  Chuan Mu Tong — the herb on this page — is Clematis armandii, a member of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae), and it is not a source of aristolochic acid. The aristolochic acid problem belongs to a different plant that shared the name: Guan Mu Tong, Aristolochia manshuriensis. The hazard here is the name, not this plant.

  Three distinct plants have been sold under “Mu Tong” names:

  • Chuan Mu Tong — Clematis armandii (Ranunculaceae). The stem material our record names, and the source most commonly supplied in the United States. Its characteristic marker compound is oleanolic acid; it contains no aristolochic acid.
  • Guan Mu Tong — Aristolochia manshuriensis (Aristolochiaceae). This is the dangerous one. Six aristolochic acids have been isolated and purified directly from its stems. It was prohibited in China from 2004, and it is the species most often found adulterating Clematis armandii material.
  • Mu Tong / Bai Mu Tong — Akebia species (Lardizabalaceae). Also outside the Aristolochiaceae and likewise not a source of aristolochic acid. Our own record notes that Mu Tong may be sourced from either Akebia or Clematis.

  Naming flag (our record). Our reference names this herb Chuan Mu Tong with the Latin Caulis Clematidis Armandii — correct, specific, and the safe source. However, its page address uses the bare form “mu-tong”, which does not distinguish Chuan Mu Tong from Guan Mu Tong or from Akebia-source Mu Tong. Because this is the single most consequential name collision in the Chinese materia medica, we are flagging the ambiguity here rather than silently changing an established address. Readers should read this page as being about Clematis armandii only.

  Why identification matters in practice: a 2023 analytical study developed a chromatographic method specifically because Clematis armandii “has often been adulterated by Aristolochia manshuriensis, and Iodes vitiginea”, and proposed detecting oleanolic acid as the positive identity test for genuine Caulis Clematidis Armandii. The practical point is the same one made on our Tong Cao page: check the botanical source named on the label, not the pinyin name.

  How Chuan Mu Tong differs from nearby herbs:

  • vs Tong Cao (Tetrapanax papyrifer pith) — both unblock urination and promote lactation, but Tong Cao is sweet, bland and mild, and has no Heart-fire action. Chuan Mu Tong is bitter, colder and stronger, and is the one used for mouth and tongue sores. They are not interchangeable.
  • vs Hu Po — our record pairs them: both drain fire from the Heart and Small Intestine with painful or bloody urination, but Chuan Mu Tong is preferred for tongue sores while Hu Po calms the spirit.

  Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (identity, Latin, and our own note that Mu Tong may be sourced from Akebia or Clematis); adulteration and oleanolic-acid identity test per PMID 37123914, PMC 10133656, DOI 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15008; six aristolochic acids isolated from Aristolochia manshuriensis stems per PMID 31685246, DOI 10.1016/j.chroma.2019.460657; 2004 prohibition of Guan Mu Tong in China per PMID 18588699, PMC 2488332, DOI 10.1186/1749-8546-3-7. Cross-referenced against multiple online sources.