Magnolia Flower Bud

These downy flower buds, gathered just before opening at the very start of spring, rank among the most scented flowers of the pharmacopoeia.

Their cottony texture holds the balsamic essential oils. From Magnolia biondii or Magnolia denudata, they come as downy greyish-brown cones.

The foremost herb for constitutions where the sphere of the upper breath is clogged by cold.

The tradition credits it with opening the passages and with the rise of the clear Yang towards the sphere of the breath.

• Decoction: 3 to 9 g, always to be wrapped in a muslin bag (the Bao Jian preparation), as the downy hairs can irritate the throat
• Inhalation: a concentrated infusion whose steam is breathed in under a towel, to open the sphere of the breath

To be avoided in cases of settled heat or of deficient Yin. Always strain carefully or use an infusion sachet to hold back the irritant hairs.

Women expecting a child: a practitioner’s advice.