Puncturevine Fruit

Traditional Use

Primary Actions

• Pacifies the Liver and subdues rising yang - Ci Ji Li is widely used for headache, dizziness, irritability, and upward-rushing Liver activity.
• Soothes Liver qi and relieves constraint - it appears when emotional stagnation creates chest or rib-side discomfort, breast distention, or pressure headaches.
• Dispels wind and brightens the eyes - traditional use includes red, painful, itchy, or visually obscured eyes linked to Liver channel disturbance.
• Stops itching - it is commonly added for urticaria, pruritic eruptions, and skin disorders where wind is considered the main pathogen.

Secondary Actions

• This record uses the thorny-fruit name Ci Ji Li, helping distinguish Tribulus fruit from Sha Yuan Ji Li, which is a different seed herb with a tonifying profile.
• Processing usually removes the hard spines and may include stir-baking, which reduces roughness and improves practical dispensing.

Classic Formulas

• Liver-constraint formulas pair Ci Ji Li with Chai Hu or Xiang Fu for headache, breast distention, and emotional stagnation.
• Eye-focused formulas combine it with Ju Hua or Jue Ming Zi when Liver heat, wind, or rising yang affects vision.
• Skin and itching formulas pair it with Fang Feng, Chan Tui, or other wind-dispelling herbs for urticaria and diffuse pruritus.

Classical References

• Me and Qi presents Ji Li as a Liver-focused herb that calms yang, soothes constraint, brightens the eyes, and relieves itching.
• Traditional herbology repeatedly warns not to confuse Tribulus fruit with Sha Yuan Ji Li, whose action is tonic and securing rather than dispersing and Liver-soothing.