Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
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Cheng Liu is the young twig and leaf of the tamarisk tree (Tamarix chinensis). It is used on its own as a single herb in Chinese medicine. Old texts gave it to help a measles rash come out fully, and to ease aches blamed on wind and damp.
In Chinese medicine it sits in the group of herbs that "release the outside". These are herbs thought to move a mild illness out through the skin by raising a light sweat. It is also boiled into a wash for itchy skin.
Here is the plain verdict. Cheng Liu has a long record in Chinese practice but almost no modern testing in people. A long history of use is not proof that a herb works, so this page grades the two things apart.
No one has shown how Cheng Liu works in the body. What follows is the old idea behind its use, plus a little lab work.
Chinese texts say the herb is acrid and warm. It was thought to open the pores and raise a light sweat, so a rash could surface and wind-damp could leave the joints.
Lab tests on tamarisk extracts show some antioxidant activity (they mop up unstable molecules) and some effect on inflammation in cells. That work was done in dishes and in animals, not in people. It does not tell you what a cup of the tea will do.
Cheng Liu comes as dried twigs and leaves, cut small for boiling into a tea. This is the main form used in China.
You may also see it as a powder, or blended into a ready-made herb formula. A few shops sell a liquid extract.
The herb is also boiled and used as a skin wash or bath soak. Good material is grey-green and smells faintly of grass.
Cheng Liu appears in Chinese herb texts from around the 10th century, in the Song dynasty. It stayed in use through later Ming and Qing writing.
Its main job was always the same: help a slow measles rash in children come out. Country healers also used it for itchy skin and joint aches.
It is a known member of the Chinese herb list but a minor one. It is not used outside East Asian herb practice in any organised way.
See a doctor straight away if you or your child has a fever with a spreading rash, a stiff neck, a bad headache, breathing trouble, or confusion. Measles and other rash illnesses can turn serious fast.
Stop the herb and get medical advice if you feel dizzy, faint, very thirsty or sick to your stomach after taking it. Also stop if a new rash, swelling or itch starts after you begin it.
Call your doctor before using Cheng Liu if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, giving it to a child, or taking any regular medicine.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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