Source
The tuber of Gastrodia elata Bl. (Fam. Orchidaceae).

Distribution
Mainly in Chinese provinces such as Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. Cultivated now in many places in China.

Harvest & Processing
Dig up root tubers from early November to early April; wash clean immediately; remove cork; steam root tubers thoroughly; dry below 60_. Commonly used in Hong Kong in the form of lengthwise cut slices.

Description
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.

Indications
1. Vertigo, dizziness, headache
2. Hypertension
3. Facial palpsy, hemiplegia, cerebral vascular accident, numbness of extremities
4. Infantile convulsions, epilepsy

Chemical Composition
Mainly contains gastrodin and gastrodioside.

Photos