Balloon flower 桔梗

Balloon flower (lat. Platycodon grandiflorus) is a plant from family Platycodonaceae.
The dried root of the plant is used in TCM.

Taste, Characteristic, and Meridian

Bitter, pungent, even by nature. Returns to the lung
meridian.

Value in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Promotes the lungs, induces diuresis, expels phlegm and drains pus.
It is used for treating cough with profuse phlegm, heaviness in chest, sore throat and
hoarseness, abscesses in lungs.