Thinleaf Milkwort Willd.

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

Cylindrical shape, slightly curved, 3~15cm long, 0.3~0.8cm diameter. Externally grayish-yellow to grayish-brown, with relatively dense and deep transverse wrinkles, longitudinal wrinkles and crack lines, old roots have relatively dense and deep transverse wrinkles, with a jointed appearance. Hard and brittle texture, easily broken, brownish-yellow cortex at fractured surface, and yellowish-white xylem, cortex is easily peeled off from xylem. faint odor, bitter, slight acrid taste, irritating to the throat when chewed.

Superior medicinal material has thick cortex and thick strip.

Bitter, acrid, slightly warm.

Calms spirit, boosts mental faculties, dispels phlegm, disperses swelling. Apply to insomnia and dreaminess due to cardionephric disharmony, morbid forgetfulness and terror, absent-minded, uncomfortable expectoration, burns and scalds and swelling, mammary abscess and swelling pain.

Processed yuan zhi: Also called pao yuan zhi, qing yuanzhi. Clean yuan zhi soaked in boiled gan cao water; take out and sun-dry. Advanced in calming heart and spirit. Roast yuan zhi: also called honey yuan zhi. Clean yuan zhi processed by honey. Advanced in dispelling phlegm and relieving cough.

'Bone’: This refers to the highly lignified woody portion of some medicinal materials. ‘Core’: this refers to the central portion of medicinal materials that have a different appearance and texture between the center and periphery. ‘Goose feather tube’: this refers to the cortex portion of relatively thick yuan zhi medicinal material that has had its woody core removed; the remaining cortex presents as a hollow cylinder or hollow long tube, which is similar in shape to hollow base of a goose’s feather.