Polyporus Sclerotium

Traditional Use

Primary Actions

• Promotes urination and drains dampness, especially for edema, scanty urine, urinary difficulty, and damp retention that has begun to impair fluid movement.
• Clears damp-heat from the lower burner without strongly injuring Yin, which is why Zhu Ling is central in urinary patterns with burning, fever, thirst, or dark painful urination.
• Leaches out retained water from the intestines when fluid obstruction contributes to diarrhea rather than simple food stagnation or Spleen deficiency.

Secondary Actions

• IDENTITY NOTE: the medicinal is the underground sclerotium of Polyporus umbellatus, not a generic edible mushroom cluster and not maitake.
• Zhu Ling overlaps with Fu Ling as a damp-draining fungus, but it is more directly urination-promoting and does not carry Fu Ling's stronger Spleen-supporting or spirit-calming emphasis.

Classic Formulas

• Zhu Ling Tang, where Zhu Ling is a chief herb for damp-heat urinary difficulty with thirst and irritability.
• Wu Ling San, where Zhu Ling helps unblock water pathways and resolve edema, urinary inhibition, and fluid retention.

Classical References

• Traditional materia medica consistently describe Zhu Ling as sweet, bland, and neutral, entering the Kidney and Bladder to induce urination and drain dampness.
• Its classic use is strongest when water accumulation and urinary obstruction are prominent.