Forsythia

Forsythia is one of the flowering shrubs I love seeing in the spring, although lilacs are my favorites, followed by honeysuckle and bridal wreath. We don’t use forsythia in Western herbalism, but the species Forsythia suspensa is used in traditional Chinese herbalism. I’ve taken it as an ingredient in Chinese formulas, but never as a single remedy, and if I were going to gather any forsythia, I would want to make certain I was gathering the correct species.

Medicinal Uses for Forsythia

The part of forsythia used in Chinese medicine is the fruit, which is a dry capsule when mature. The fruits are bitter and said to enter the lung, liver, and gallbladder meridians. The remedy is primarily used as a cooling and detoxifying agent to reduce fever and inflammation and help the body fight infections. It has antiviral and antibacterial actions and is also a diuretic.

Forsythia is indicated for sore throats, tonsillitis, bronchitis, swollen lymph nodes, and other similar conditions where inflammation and fever are present. It can also be used to treat abscesses, boils, carbuncles, and mastitis. It is contraindicated in people with weakness and cold in the digestive system (Chinese stomach and spleen). Also, it should not be used on open sores.

Forsythia Flower Essence

While researching for this article, I was curious about the use of forsythia as a flower remedy for emotional healing. I found over a dozen companies making it, and read what they had to offer about its use. I was pleasantly surprised to find some fairly consistent ideas about the remedy put forth by the various providers. Furthermore, their explanations of the energy of the flowers made sense to me.

Forsythia flowers before it puts out leaves. So, the first energy it puts forth in the spring is dedicated to creating its brilliant yellow flowers. Yellow is associated with the solar plexus and the adrenal glands, which is where the emotional center that helps us adapt to changing circumstances and stress is located. The flower essence appears to help a person activate this energy and potential for change, so they can break out of old patterns of thought and behavior and move into new and healthier ways of being.

One source for the flower essence associated the energy of forsythia with the song Feeling Good by Michael Buble. The song speaks about beautiful things in the world, and the chorus goes, “It's a new dawn, it's a new day; It's a new life, for me; And I'm feeling good.” Another associated it with the movie Groundhog’s Day, where Bill Murray plays a cynical weatherman who becomes trapped in a time loop, reliving February 2 repeatedly. These associations suggest that forsythia can help break free of repeating patterns in our lives, such as making the same mistake over and over again. The remedy opens us up to a more spiritual nature that allows us to break out of habits and addictions and discover potentials we didn’t know we had. I was intrigued enough by these descriptions that I ordered a bottle of the flower essence so I can experiment with it.

Using Forsythia

I also learned that the flowers are edible. You can make them into a tea, add them to salads, or use them to flavor other dishes. Now that I know this, I definitely need to try nibbling on them next spring. If you’d like to experiment with using the flowers, I found a great article with over 30 recipes for using forsythia flowers. Just make sure to identify the correct species.

Forsythia fruits are typically used as part of a formula in Chinese medicine. They are one of the key ingredients in a Chinese Heat-Clearing formula that also contains honeysuckle flower buds, chrysanthemum flowers, amur cork tree bark, and Baical skullcap. I’ve successfully used this formula for easing pain and clearing infections associated with earaches, fevers, sore throats, and other acute, inflammatory conditions.

If you want to use forsythia as a single remedy, the dose is 3-12 grams a day. You could also make a milder remedy by using the flowers and leaves as a tea or using the flowers to make topical preparations to soothe skin irritation.