Ficus simplicissima, Wu Zhi Mao Tao 五指毛桃

Hispid Fig, Hairy Fig, Roughhair Fig, Fissured Fig, Coarse-leaf Fig, “Five-fingered Peach”
Wu Zhi Mao Tao, Cu Ye Rong (TCM)

Ficus simplicissima
The botany of Captain Beechey’s voyage (1841)

Ficus Wu Zhi Mao Tao
(Adam 2024)

Botanical name:

Ficus simplicissima (syn. F. hirta)
Ficus microcarpa is also given as a source, especially in Guangdong

Parts used:

Root, sometimes the Root-bark

Temperature & Taste:

Neutral / Slightly Warm, Sweet

Classification:

Uses:

1. Strengthens Spleen, Increases Qi, Clears Damp:
–Poor appetite with fatigue
–Postpartum weakness
–increases Immunity
2. Strengthens Lungs, Clears Phlegm:
–Cough, Bronchitis
–Tuberculosis
–improves tolerance to Hypoxia and Ischemia
3. Clears Wind-Damp, Benefits Sinews:
–Rheumatic Arthralgia
–Myasthenia Gravis
4. Clears Blood Stasis, Resolves Swelling:
–Trauma
–Cirrhosis, Hepatitis
–Anti-Cancer
5. Moves Qi, Clears Damp:
–Edema
–Leukorrhea
6. Promotes Milk:
–enhances Breast Milk

Dose:

Decoction: 30–60 grams

Main Combinations:

1. Edema in the elderly,
i. Ficus Wu Zhi Mao Tao with Ginseng
ii. Ficus Wu Zhi Mao Tao boiled with Pig spine into a Soup
2. Leukorrhea, Ficus Wu Zhi Mao Tao with Argyreia
3. Postpartum weakness and to enhance Milk, stew with Pig feet