Yue Ji Hua (月季花; Yuè Jì Huā; Latin: Rosae Chinensis Flos; English: China rose flower) is the dried flower of the China rose — the familiar garden bloom that opens from spring to autumn, gathered as the buds begin to open. It is sweet, slightly bitter, and warm, enters the Liver channel, and its core actions are to soothe the liver and move qi, and to invigorate blood and regulate menstruation. It is the mild herb for a bound-up liver and a sluggish period. The usual amount is 3–6 g in a decoction or tea. It does not need first, last, or wrapped decoction handling, and it steeps well.
It is not Mei Gui Hua. Rose flower is also warm, sweet, and slightly bitter, but it leans to soothing the liver and lifting the mood, with less blood-moving force; this flower leans to moving blood and settling the period. It is not the big garden rose of Western bouquets either; the medicinal material is the China rose flower, dried and checked. In heavy periods, with bleeding tendencies, or in pregnancy, using it on your own is a poor match. Pain that will not settle, or bleeding that will not stop, needs a clinic first. Do not take it yourself for a long time.
It is used most often for three patterns:
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A bound-up mood, easy sighing, breast fullness before the period, a tight rib side — liver qi constraint
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A late, scanty, dark-clotted period with cramping — blood stasis in the womb
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Heavy periods, early periods, or a bleeding tendency — skip it
Sweet, slightly bitter, and warm, it is not a daily "mood-flower tea" to keep increasing. Moving blood and qi when there is no stasis or constraint, or in a heavy period, adds loss instead of helping.
When the liver qi binds up — from stress, irregular rhythm, or a squeezed schedule — the chest feels tight, sighs come easily, the breasts ache before the period, and blood stalls in the womb, so the period comes late with dark, clotted flow and a cramping belly. Yue Ji Hua is sweet, slightly bitter, and warm. It frees the liver and moves the blood, which is why it appears in Yue Ji Hua Tang (China Rose Decoction)–type formulas. It moves more than it holds. In heavy periods or pregnancy, more makes it worse.
Yue Ji Hua is not a catch-all mood or period herb. In heavy periods, with a bleeding tendency, in pregnancy, or with no stasis or constraint, using it alone is a poor match. Whether it belongs in a formula, and at what dose, should be decided by a licensed Chinese medicine practitioner after pattern diagnosis.
