Indian Madder Root

Primarily produced in the Chinese provinces of Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi.

Rhizome is knotty, with uneven roots thickly growing out. Root is cylindrical, slightly curved, 10~25cm long, 0.2~1cm diameter; externally reddish-brown or dark brown, with thin longitudinal wrinkles and few thin root scars; yellowish-red where cortex fallen off. Brittle texture, easily broken, fractured surface is flat with narrow cortex; purplish-red, xylem is wide, pale yellowish-red, with numerous ducts. faint odor, slightly bitter taste, numbing to the tongue when chewed a while.

Superior medicinal material is thick, reddish-brown outer skin, yellowish-brown fractured surface.

Bitter, cold.

Cools blood, stops blood, eliminates stasis, frees channels, calms cough, eliminates phlegm. Apply to hematemesis, non-traumatic hemorrhage, metrorrhagia and metrostaxis, traumatic bleeding, menostasia and stagnation, joint impediment, injury with swelling and pain. Modern study proved: apply to hemorrhagic disease, chronic bronchitis, chronic diarrhea, rheumatoid arthritis, soft tissue injury, and leucopenia.