Description and remedy use of Tall Gastrodia Tuber,Rhizoma Gastrodiae and its Determination Method...

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Botanical Desription:Tall Gastrodia Tuber.

Tall Gastrodia Tuber Extract Tianma Rhizoma Gastrodiae Extract Gastrodia elata Bl Extract photo picture image Perennial plant commensal with Armillariella mellea(Vahl ex Fr.) Karst; single stem, height 30~150cm,colored yellow brown. Leaf scalelike,with membrane and amplexicaul.
 Flowering top,width 5~30cm, colored light green yellow or orange red; seed powder shape. flowering between June to July, fruiting July to August.

 Living warm and moisture circumstance, output from yunnan,hubei,guizhou,shaan xi province of china.Cultivated or growing on deep loamy soils, under woods, and mainly distributed in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. Other producing regions include Northeast and North China.The annual production of Gastrodia Tuber produced in Yunnan Zhaotong is 1 million kg, among them 30% is from wild.

 Ellipsoid (elliptical in long-section and circular in cross-section), or long and suborbicular (almost round), flattened and shrunken, slightly curved. Top end often with withered reddish-brown to dark brown gemmae or with remnants of caudex; the other end marked with orbicular (round) and umbilicate (with a depression in the middle, like a navel) scars formed after detachment from main tuber. Cork fallen off or partially attached. Outer surface yellowish-white to pale yellowish-brown, with punctiform (dotlike) protuberances forming numerous rings of transverse striae and longitudinal wrinkles; sometimes with reddish-brown mycorrhiza. Hard, does not break easily. When broken, surface relatively smooth; yellowish-white to pale brown. When sliced, surface translucent and cuticular. Odour: faint; taste: sweet.
 Tall Gastrodia Tuber Extract Tianma Rhizoma Gastrodiae Extract Gastrodia elata Bl Extract photo picture image

 Origin:

 The tuber of Gastrodia elata Blume., a perennial parasitic plant of the orchid family (Orchidaceae). Native to east Asia, the plant is grown in woods in the mountains of China.Gastrodia grows to about 1 m by 0.3 m. It is in flower from July to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). The plant can grow in full shade (deep woodland) or semi-shade (light woodland). It requires moist soil.

 This plant has an unusual requirement for survival: it must have the Armillaria mellea mushroom mycelia incorporated into the tuber in order to maintain its maturation and growth, and it requires another fungus, Mycena osmundicola, to sprout the seeds. When supplies of the crude gastrodia became rare in the 1970's, attempts at cultivating the plant repeatedly failed until this complex synergistic plant/mushroom relationship was determined. Then, cultivation became easy, though it was not until the late 1980's that an adequate cultivated supply of gastrodia was developed.

 Like other wild orchids, Gastrodia elata has been placed on the list of endangered species. The increasing difficulty of finding wild gastrodia in the 1970s led to an interesting discovery about this plant. Chinese herbalists tried to cultivate gastrodia, but failed until biologists discovered that the plant needs two fungi in order to survive and reproduce. It needs the Armillaria mellea mushroom on its tuber in order to grow and mature; and it requires a second fungus called Mycena osmundicola to help its seeds to sprout. After this complicated relationship was understood, herbalists were able to grow gastrodia.
 Tall Gastrodia Tuber Extract Tianma Rhizoma Gastrodiae Extract Gastrodia elata Bl Extract photo picture image

 Another aspect of this discovery was the finding that most of the medicinal benefits associated with gastrodia are actually produced by the Armillaria mushroom. Many growers then decided to cultivate the mushroom by itself without the gastrodia tuber. Some herbalists now use the Armillaria mushroom in their preparations instead of wild or cultivated gastrodia.

 Interestingly, the medicinal benefits of gastrodia were found to be mainly the metabolites of the Armillaria mushroom. In other words, if one could grow the mushroom, the gastrodia tuber could be dispensed with and one could use just the mushroom material in place of gastrodia. This mushroom cultivation (by batch fermentation) was accomplished and the material was tested in the 1970's. Today, gastrodia mushroom (Armillaria) is frequently used instead of cultivated gastrodia. In the meantime, wild gastrodia, along with all other wild orchids, has been put on the endangered species list.

 Gastrodia tuber has been used in Chinese herbal medicine for over 1,900 years. Gastrodia was listed in the 'Shen Nong's Herbal Classic' (ca. 100 A.D.) and was later classified by Tao Hong as a superior herb, meaning that it could be taken for a long time to protect the health and prolong life (as well as treating illnesses).

 It was originally called chiqian, meaning red arrow, because of its red stem shaped like an arrow. Later it was named tianma, or heavenly hemp (ma, usually translated as hemp, refers to many plants that have fibrous stems, such as the well-known mahuang).

 In China, the plant is distributed everywhere but mainly in the provinces Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, etc. Picked and collected in winter and spring, gastrodia tuber is picked and dug when the stem has withered in winter; this is called the winter gastrodia tuber, which is of good quality. The tuber picked and dug when the herb sprouts in spring is called the spring gastrodia tuber, which is of poorer quality.

 After the tuber is dug, remove its stems above the ground and fibrous roots, wash it clean, steam thoroughly and dry it in the sun, in the air or bake until dry. Moisten the tuber thoroughly and slice for use.Also called Elevated Gastrodia Tuber.

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citations1.Description and remedy use of Tall Gastrodia Tuber,Rhizoma Gastrodiae and its Determination Method...

last edit date:15th,June.2009.