Field notes and materia medica
Roots and rhizomes
Field notes on the roots, rhizomes and tubers of Chinese medicine: how each one is grown, lifted, cleaned and prepared before it reaches a pharmacy.
18 field notes
Chinese herbs
Platycodon root (桔梗): lifting and drying a deep white root
How Jie Geng grows below ground, is harvested without breakage, cleaned, prepared, and dried.
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Chinese herbs
Fresh ginger (生姜): a kitchen rhizome with a separate medicinal identity
How fresh ginger develops underground, is lifted, cleaned, and distinguished from dried or processed ginger.
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Chinese herbs
Ephedra herb and root (麻黄): two parts with sharply different risks
How Ephedra survives dry landscapes, and why its stems and roots are harvested, processed, and discussed separately.
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Chinese herbs
Trichosanthes fruit and root (瓜蒌 / 天花粉): one vine, separate medicines
How a climbing Trichosanthes vine produces a large fruit while its underground root becomes a distinct material.
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Chinese herbs
Prepared aconite daughter root (附子): cultivation where processing is critical
How Fu Zi develops beside the mother root, is harvested, repeatedly processed, and kept out of home preparation because raw aconite is highly toxic.
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Chinese herbs
Codonopsis root (党参): a cultivated root that is not ginseng
How Dang Shen grows as a climbing perennial, is lifted and dried, and remains distinct from Ren Shen despite overlapping traditional language.
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Chinese herbs
Red and white peony root (赤芍 / 白芍): similar plants, different processing
How source, cultivation, bark removal, heating, and drying distinguish two peony-root medicines.
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Chinese herbs
Chinese angelica and Astragalus root (当归 / 黄芪): two roots shaped by different climates
How Dang Gui and Huang Qi grow in contrasting Gansu landscapes, are lifted in autumn, dried, sliced, and paired.
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Chinese herbs
Atractylodes lancea and white atractylodes (苍术 / 白术): two rhizomes, two processing paths
How Cang Zhu and Bai Zhu grow, are dug and cleaned, then processed differently before being paired.
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Chinese herbs
Pinellia tuber (半夏): why raw tubers require controlled processing
How Ban Xia grows as a small tuber crop and is transformed into distinct prepared forms without making home processing acceptable.
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Chinese herbs
Chinese goldthread (黄连): five years in shade before harvest
How Huang Lian is cultivated for years on shaded mountain plots, lifted, fire-dried, and cleaned root by root.
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Chinese herbs
Niu Xi (牛膝): from cultivated field to dried medicinal root
How Niu Xi grows, is harvested and processed, and is traditionally used for particular symptom patterns.
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Chinese herbs
Fleeceflower root (何首乌): from wild tuber to prepared root
How He Shou Wu is found, sliced, dried, and traditionally processed—and why raw and prepared forms must not be confused.
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Chinese herbs
Prepared rehmannia root (熟地黄): washing, steaming, and drying
How Di Huang root is repeatedly moistened, steamed, and dried into the dark prepared material Shu Di Huang.
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Chinese herbs
Gastrodia tuber (天麻): an orchid grown with fungi
How the leafless orchid Tian Ma depends on fungi, is harvested underground, and reaches the kitchen and pharmacy.
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Chinese herbs
Asian ginseng (人参): the patient work of lifting a wild root
How Ren Shen grows beneath forest cover and why harvesting its fine roots can take hours.
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Chinese herbs
Licorice root (甘草): deep roots and restrained harvesting
How Gan Cao survives dry grassland, develops long roots, and is harvested with attention to regrowth.
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Chinese herbs
Rhodiola root (红景天): restoring a high-altitude medicinal plant
How Hong Jing Tian grows on the Tibetan Plateau and why collectors are turning toward propagation and replanting.
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