500 Common Chinese Medicinal Materials: Empirical Identification

Author: Chief Editor: Lu Ganpeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features:
Fragment: The main source of White Peony Root is wild, widely distributed in the provinces of Jiangnan. It is primarily produced in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi. In recent years, artificial cultivation has been carried out in places like Hubei, but it is not the main source of commercial products. Wild products are generally harvested in October, while cultivated ones are harvested slightly later, around early November. The aboveground parts are cut, and the underground parts are dug up, washed, and dried to obtain the finished product. If the rootlets at the nodes are removed and only the rootstock is used, it is called "Goose Pipe White Peony Root." If the entire plant is washed and dried for medicinal use, it is called "Grass White Peony Root" (used in Jiangxi, Hunan, and Hubei).
[Commercial Source and Experience Identification]
Both types of White Peony Root products and their wild and cultivated varieties have differences:
Willow Leaf White Peony Root (wild): The rootstock is slender and cylindrical, with branches, slightly curved, 4–15 cm long, and 1.5–4 mm in diameter. The surface is yellowish-white or yellowish-brown, with fine longitudinal ridges, distinct nodes, and 1.5–4.5 cm between nodes. Each node has 4–6 rootlets, and the top of the rootstock has residual stems with 10–15 branch roots clustered at the base. The texture is brittle, the cross-section is hollow, and it is commonly referred to as "Goose Pipe White Peony Root." The roots are fine, curved, up to 10 cm long, less than 1 mm in diameter, with numerous branches, resembling hair-like roots, often coiled into clusters (roots at the base of residual stems are slightly thicker and longer than those on nodes). The aroma is faint, and the taste is slightly sweet.
Willow Leaf White Peony Root (cultivated): The rootstock is longer and thicker, 10–30 cm long, and 3–4.2 mm in diameter. The surface of the branches is creamy white, with nodes about 3–5 cm apart. Each node has more rootlets, 6–10 in number, and numerous residual roots at the base of the stem stump, up to 25–30 in number (seedling main stems can have more than 40 at the root base). The residual roots are 15–20 cm long.
Butterfly Flower Leaf White Peony Root (wild): The rootstock is short and small, about 5–15 cm long, with a diameter of about 0.1 cm or slightly blocky. The surface is grayish-green or grayish-yellow, with shorter internodes, 1–2 cm long or densely connected, and a harder texture. There are fewer branches, and the pith cavity is smaller in the cross-section.
Butterfly Flower Leaf White Peony Root (cultivated): The rootstock is longer and thicker, 10–25 cm long, with a diameter of about 1–2 mm, a softer texture, and more branches. The surface is creamy white, with internodes about 1–2 cm long, and rootlets on the nodes, similar in color to the rootstock.
In White Peony Root, the high-quality "Goose Pipe White Peony Root" is the rootstock part without rootlets from the above varieties, cylindrical with branches, yellowish-white or grayish-yellow in surface color, with visible traces of rootlets removed. The cross-section is hollow (differences in plant sources and wild/cultivated varieties are the same as above).
Grass White Peony Root also has two types based on origin:
Willow Leaf White Peony Root (with roots): The stem is erect and cylindrical, single or branched, about 30 cm long, and 2–4 mm in diameter, grayish-green or yellowish-green, hairless. The leaves are simple, opposite, with short petioles. The leaves are wrinkled, broken, or fallen. Complete leaves are lanceolate with entire margins. Sometimes cymes are seen in the leaf axils, with small, dark-brown flowers. The underground part is the same as above.
Butterfly Flower Leaf White Peony Root: The aboveground stem is cylindrical, sometimes branched, 10–25 cm long, and 2–5 mm in diameter, with a color similar to the rootstock (grayish-green or grayish-yellow), smoother. Nodes have prominent petiole scars and axillary buds, but no leaves are visible. The underground part is the same as above.
[Specifications and Grades]
White Peony Root products are not graded and are all classified as bulk. Requirements: dry, with slender and cylindrical rootstock, hollow, light yellowish-brown in surface color. Rootlets grow on both sides and lower part of the rootstock (except for "Goose Pipe White Peony Root"). The length of residual stem base should not exceed 3 cm (except for "Grass White Peony Root"). No soil or impurities should be present.
[Quality Evaluation]
In White Peony Root products, "Goose Pipe White Peony Root" is traditionally considered the best, with thicker and impurity-free rootstock being preferred. "Grass White Peony Root" is used locally. Cultivated products have not been in use for long and have no definitive conclusion. Among the two sources, Willow Leaf White Peony Root is generally better.