Yuthog Foundation for Tibetan Medicine

Medicinal Plants

Clematis ladakhiana Grey-Wilson

Description:

Flowers pale yellow

Altitude:

3420 m (11,220 foot)

Location:

creeping on thorny shrubs besides fields

Medical usage:

Indigestion, stopp dysentry assoc. with cold disorders, oedema

Used part:

Whole plant without root; plants are burnt in apot and the ashes are used

It is interesting to note that this plant is being burnt to ashes prior to use. Probably there is a certain mineral content in the plant that differs from other plants. To our knowledge, no analysis of these ashes has ever been performed. We would gladly supply some of our herbarized material to which ever chemist who feels like doing this!

The medicine name "dags sman 15" is a good example how Tibetan medicine call their preparation. In this case, "dags" stands for a particular scholar who developed the medicine. "sman" just means medicine. And 15 stands for the number of ingredients in the pill. A pill of very salty taste in fact.
In other cases, the medicine's name might be derived from the main ingredient. Like in Sendru 5.
Sendru means pomegranate. In this medicine, pomegranate seeds are mixed with 4 other ingredients. Usually, the main ingredient is used in a slightly bigger proportion than the other ones. Sendru 5 is another digestive medicine.