1. Pharmaceutical name:Sclerotium Poriae Cocos.

2. Latin botanical name:Poria Cocos (Schw.) Wolf.

3.Common Name: poriae sclerotium of tuckahoe, china root, hoelen.

4.Properties (characteristics): sweet, bland, neutral.

5.Channels (meridians) entered: heart, spleen, lung, kidney.

6.Actions and Indications:as diuretics, in urinary difficulty, diarrhea, water retention, pixu with water retention. Urination difficulty due to damp heat.  Pixu with mucus production and headache, dizziness, palpitations, with think greasy tongue coating. Palpitation, insomnia or forgetfulness, loss of appetite. Inflammation of the uterus and chronic sinusitis.
Note: Balance with other herbs in case yinxu condition.

7.Present Day Applications:

  1).Edema
  2). Tumors: Fu ling compound was used on 70 different type of tumors. In some cases only fu ling was used, and in others fu ling was used with chemo therapy, or radiation therapy or surgery. It showed that fu ling can strengthen the body, improve body weight, improve appetite, lessen or prevent side effect of chemo therapy, protect bone marrow, improve liver and kidney functions, improve radiation therapy on nose and throat cancers. (2)
  3). Infant diarrhea
  4). Improve schizoid condition
  5). Improve liver function
  6). For baldness after giving birth:
Use 10 g of fu ling. Make into decoction. Twice a day. Externally apply bu gu zhi and han lian cao tincture. All of the eight patients healed in two months. Source: Chinese Dermatology Journal

8. Cautions:Not suitable for patients with yinxu (yin deficient) condition. [1]
The characteristics of the herb fu ling is that it is more of a diuretic than a tonic herb. Over usage can weaken the eyes. Not compatible with chronic weakness of the body. [2]
Not to use in cases of shenxu (kidney deficient)  with urinary incontinence, or in cases of clear sperm or spermatorrhea due to yangxu (yang deficient). [3]