Chinese Clematis Root and Rhizome

Primarily produced in the Chinese provinces of Shanxi, Henan, Hebei, Shandong.

Clematis chinensis Osbeck: rhizome is cylindrical, pale brownish-yellow; apex has remnants of stem base, relatively pliable texture, fractured surface is fibrous; lower side has numerous thin root, root is thin and long cylindrical, slightly curved, externally black-brown, with thin wrinkles, some cortex has fallen off, a yellowish-white body portion is revealed; hard and brittle texture, easily broken, fractured surface has relatively wide cortex, xylem is pale yellow, slightly square, there often is a crack between the cortex and xylem. faint odor, tasteless. Clematis hexapetala Pall.: rhizome is short cylindrical, externally brown to brownish-black, fractured surface has round xylem. Salty taste. Clematis manshurica Rupr: rhizome is cylindrical; externally brownish-black, fractured surface has sub-spherical xylem, spicy and acrid taste.

Superior medicinal material has thick strip and thick cortex.

Acrid, salty, warm

Dispels wind-damp, frees channels. Apply to wind-damp impediment, limb numbness, contracture of tendons and vessels, hypertonicity of the sinews and impaired extension of the joints.