Qu Mai (Aerial Parts of Fringed Pink or Chinese Pink Dianthus)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Qu Mai?

  Roughly 5–15 g in decoction — our own record carries two commonly cited ranges, 5–10 g and 9–15 g, reflecting two different reference traditions rather than a disagreement about the herb. The aerial parts (stem, leaf and flowering top) are the part used, decocted with the other herbs in the usual way.

  • 5–10 g in decoction — the more conservative of the two ranges carried in our record.
  • 9–15 g in decoction — the higher range, which matches the daily dose recorded for Dianthi Herba in the modern Chinese pharmacopoeial literature (PMID 35062995).

  Source: our own herb record (both cited ranges); pharmacopoeial daily dose corroborated by the Dianthi Herba review, PMID 35062995, PMC 8780776. Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Is Qu Mai safe? Can you take Qu Mai during pregnancy?

  Qu Mai is contraindicated in pregnancy. Our own record states plainly that it should not be used during pregnancy because animal studies indicate it causes uterine contractions — and that caution is supported in the modern literature, where extracts of Dianthus superbus reduced progesterone levels, blocked normal decidual development and terminated pregnancy in mice, and where the pharmacopoeial entry itself advises caution in pregnant women. Its general place is as a draining, cooling herb, so it is not suited to people who are cold, weak or already depleted of fluids.

  • Pregnancy — contraindicated. This is a long-standing classical caution and is echoed by animal data (see below and Research).
  • Deficiency and cold — as a bitter, cold, draining herb it is inappropriate where there is no damp-heat, and unsuited to weak digestion or fluid depletion.
  • Diuretic-type effects — because the herb increases urine output, it warrants attention alongside pharmaceutical diuretics (see Drug interactions).

  Source: our own herb record (pregnancy contraindication as written); corroborated by the Dianthi Herba review reporting antifertility and pregnancy-terminating effects in mice and pharmacopoeial caution in pregnancy, PMID 35062995, PMC 8780776; earlier antifertility report in mice, PMID 5365593. Neutral reference safety information, not medical advice.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• Qu Mai is not classed as a toxic herb, and our own record notes no toxicity at normal doses. The meaningful safety signals are reproductive rather than general: the modern review reports that high doses (15–30 g/kg in mice, far above human therapeutic use) terminated pregnancy and shortened gestation, and that kidney effects were seen at higher doses in animal work, which the authors state needs further investigation. There is no established human toxicity at the customary decoction doses.

  Source: our own herb record; animal-dose findings per PMID 35062995, PMC 8780776, DOI 10.1186/s13020-022-00570-2; PMID 5365593. Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

Herb-Drug Interactions

• Does Qu Mai interact with medications?

  No well-documented clinical herb–drug interactions are established for Qu Mai. The reasonable precaution recorded in our own material is that, because the herb promotes urination, it should be used with care in people already taking pharmaceutical diuretics, where additive fluid and electrolyte loss is conceivable. Given the reproductive findings in animals, it is also avoided by anyone pregnant or trying to conceive. Both points are precautionary, not demonstrated clinical interactions.

  Source: our own herb record; precautionary reasoning from the diuretic and reproductive pharmacology summarised in PMID 35062995. Flagged for practitioner confirmation.

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 Qu Mai (Herba Dianthi, Dianthus superbus)?

  Yes — a substantial phytochemical and preclinical literature exists, but no meaningful human clinical evidence. A 2022 review in Chinese Medicine catalogued roughly 194 compounds from Dianthi Herba, chiefly triterpenoid saponins, flavonoids (including quercetin, luteolin and kaempferol derivatives), cyclic peptides, anthraquinones and phenolic acids, and reviewed the pharmacology behind the traditional diuretic and blood-moving uses. Everything below is laboratory or animal work.

  • Diuretic and urinary — the review reports increased urine output in animal studies and use alongside lithotripsy for ureteral stones. An earlier in-vitro screen tested Dianthus superbus and eleven other diuretic Chinese medicinals against urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis (PMID 12516457).
  • Kidney — a Dianthus superbus extract improved markers of glomerular fibrosis and renal dysfunction in a diabetic-nephropathy animal model (PMID 30841605; see the published erratum, PMID 32503102).
  • Anti-inflammatory — phytoecdysteroids isolated from Dianthus superbus were evaluated for anti-neuroinflammatory activity (PMID 37178942), and a maltol glycoside from the same plant showed anti-inflammatory activity in cell culture (PMID 35425507).
  • Reproductive (the basis of the pregnancy caution) — crude extracts showed an antifertility effect in mice as early as 1969 (PMID 5365593); the modern review reports progesterone reduction, blocked decidual development and pregnancy termination in mice.
  • Chemistry — cytotoxic cyclic peptides and dianthramide (PMID 15387653) and new triterpenoid saponins (PMID 21467688) have been characterised from the plant; C-glycosylflavones from Dianthus superbus have been studied in glucose-metabolism assays (PMID 38257252).

  None of this constitutes clinical evidence in people, and none of it should be read as a therapeutic claim for the traditional herb.

  Sources: PMID 35062995, PMC 8780776, DOI 10.1186/s13020-022-00570-2 (comprehensive Dianthi Herba review); PMID 30841605 and PMID 32503102 (diabetic nephropathy model and erratum); PMID 37178942; PMID 35425507; PMID 38257252; PMID 15387653; PMID 21467688; PMID 12516457; PMID 5365593. Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• What is the difference between Qu Mai and Bian Xu?

  Both Qu Mai and Bian Xu treat painful, burning, difficult urination — the split is in what else they do. Qu Mai specifically supports the Small Intestine’s role in expelling damp-heat and can additionally be used for amenorrhoea because it invigorates the blood. Bian Xu does not have that gynaecological reach, but can be used for jaundice.

  • Qu Mai — damp-heat painful urination; also amenorrhoea and blood-stagnation menstrual pain; enters Bladder, Heart and Small Intestine.
  • Bian Xu — damp-heat painful urination; additionally used for jaundice.

  Which plants are the real source of Qu Mai?

  Two species are accepted, and both are reflected in this herb’s common name. The modern review of Dianthi Herba identifies Dianthus superbus L. (fringed pink) and Dianthus chinensis L. (Chinese pink), both in the carnation family (Caryophyllaceae), as the authentic botanical sources — which is why our record names both fringed pink and Chinese pink dianthus. The herb also appears under the alternative Chinese name Shi Zhu Cao.

  Source: our own herb record (differentiation, alternative name); botanical sources per PMID 35062995, PMC 8780776, DOI 10.1186/s13020-022-00570-2.