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Rehmannia glutinosa (Gaert.) Libosch. ex Fisch. et Mey.
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English Name |
Rehmannia, |
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Latin name |
Rehmannia glutinosa (Gaert.) Libosch. ex Fisch. et Mey. |
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Family & Genus |
Scrophulariaceae, Rehmannia |
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Description |
Perennial herb, 10-40cm high. The whole plant greyish white villous and glandular hair. Root fleshy, carnosus, lump, cylindrical or spindle. Stems erect, single or several branches divided from the base. Basal leaves clustered, blade obovate-lanceolate, length 3-10cm, width 1.5-4cm, apex obtuse, base attenuate, decurrent to be long petiole, leaf surface much wrinkled, margin with irregular serrature; cauline leaves smaller. Flower stems erect, hairy, at upper part of stem to be racemes; bracts leaf-shaped, developed or degradated; calyx campanulate, apex 5 lobed, lobes triangular, being multicellular villous and with white hair, individual veins 10; corolla broadly cylindrical, slightly curved, 3-4cm long, outside dark purple, mixed with yellow inside, with prominent purple striae, apex 5 lobed, slightly two lip-shaped; stamens 4, didynamous, anther base furcate; ovary superior, ovate, 2 chambers, 1 chamber after blooming, style 1, stigma enlarged. Capsule ovoid or long ovate, apex acute, with persistent style, enclosed by persistent calyx. Seeds numerous. Flowering: April to May, fruiting: May to June. |
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Distribution |
Mostly cultivated, also growing wild on hill-slopes at altitude 50-1,100m and on roadside wastelands. Distributed in Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Anhui, Zhejiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan and etc. The medicinal materials are mainly produced in Wenxian, Mengxian, Wuling, Boai, Qinyang and etc of Henan. |
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Part Used |
Medical part: root tuber. Chinese name: Shengdihuang. Medical part: prepared root tuber. Chinese name: Shudihuang. |
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Harvest & Processing |
Early Dihuang harvested in early and middle Oct; late Dihuang harvested from late Oct to the early Nov; wild Dihuang also harvested in spring. Taken care when excavating, and not break the root, cleared stem leaves, rhizome residue and fibril, washed off earth; or buried under dried sandy soil without washing, can be kept in dried and shady places for 2-3 months. |
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Chemistry |
Mainly contains iridoid glycosides: leonuride, aucubin and catalpol, etc.; also contain saccharides: D-glucose, D-gluctose, D-fructose, sucrose, raffinose, stachyose (the most, up to 64.9%), amn-ninotriose, verbascose. Shudihuang contains small amount of leonuride, aucubin, catalpol and rehmannioside A, B, C, D, etc. Also contain monoterpene: jioglutin A, B, C, jioglutolide, jiolutin A, B, C, etc. |
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Pharmacology |
Effects on adrenal cortex and cortical catabolism; radioresistant; hepatic-protective; effective on blood sugar and cardiovascular system. |
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Properties & Actions |
Rehmannia root: taste sweet, bitter, cold in nature. Prepared Rehmannia root: taste sweet, warm in nature.Shengdihuang: clearing heat and cooling blood, engendering liquid moistening dryness. Shudihuang: replenishing the blood, boosting essence and filling the marrow. |
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Indications & Usage |
Fresh Rehmannia root: acute pyreticosis, fever and coma, macular eruption, hydrodipsia due to depletion of body fluids, hematemesis due to hemopyretic bleeding, non-traumatic hemorrhage, metrorrhagia and metrostaxis, hemafecia, mouth and tongue ulcers, swelling pain in the throat, coughing with over-strained fever, injury pains from falls, anthracia. Prepared Rehmannia root: hematasthenic flaccidity, vertigo and palpitation, irregular menstrual periods, metrorrhagia, liver-kidney yin deficiency, hectic fever and night sweat, impotence and seminal emission, sterility, relative weakness in the loins and knees, tinnitus and deafness, lightheadedness and dizziness, early graying of beard and hair, diabetes, constipation, coughing with asthma due to renal insufficiency.Unripe Dihuang: oral administration: decocting, 10-30g; pounded to extract juice or prepared ointment. External application: appropriate amount, smashed for applying; or extracted juice for external spread. Ripe Dihuang: oral administration: decocting, 10-30g; or made as pills or powders; or prepared ointment, or made as medicinal liquor. |
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Examples |
1. Treat typhus and pyrexic diseases, dissipate blood stasis with blood stagnation with or without perspiration, epistaxis and hematemesis, stagnated blood, yellow face, black stool: rhinoceros horn 1 liang, Rehmannia 8 liang, peony 3 liang, suffruticosa peony bark 2 liang. Cut the above four drugs into thin pieces, decoct in 3 sheng water and concentrate until 3 sheng, and swallow in 3 times.
2. Treat summer febrile disease, feeble pulse, restless sleeping, dipsesis and red tongue, with wild talks at times, open eyes constantly: rhinoceros horn 3 qian, Rehmannia dride rhizome 5 qian, kakuda figwort root 3 qian, omei mountain bamboo juvenile leaf 1 qian, dwarf lilyturf 3 qian, dan-shen 2 qian, China goldthread 1.5 qian, flos lonicerae 3 qian, weeping forsythia 2 qian (with kernel). Put into 8 cups of water, cook and concentrate until reduced to 3 cups, take 3 times a day. The drugs can not be administered to patients with white and greasy tongue.
3. Treat hematemesis resulted from Yang subjugation Yin, non-traumatic hemorrhage: fresh lotus leaves, fresh largehead atractylodes leaves, Rehmannia in equal amounts. Grind the above drugs into powders, and prepare pills as large as eggs. Take 1 pill each time, decoct in water and swallow. |
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