First-grade Picrorhiza (Cylindrical branches, grayish-brown, short internodes with ring patterns, hard and brittle)

Picrorhiza

Picrorhiza slices

【Name】

Picrorhiza

【Source】

Newly Revised Materia Medica

【Common Usage Level】

D

【Botanical Origin】

Rhizomes of Picrorrhiza kurroa Benth. or Picrorrhiza scrophulariiflora Pe el, belonging to the Scrophulariaceae family.

【Characteristics】

It presents as a cylindrical shape, straight or curved, mostly unbranched, in small segments of about 2~4~9 cm in length, and 3~8 cm in diameter. The surface is grayish-yellow, shiny, rough, with longitudinal wrinkles and transverse ring patterns. The top has residual leaf marks, and the root scars are round and dotted, more numerous near the nodes. It is hard and brittle, easily broken, and dust flies out when broken.
Processed slices are thin slices cut horizontally or diagonally, about 1 mm thick; the fracture surface is dark brown, and the edges and xylem are light yellow to grayish-yellow. The cortex has more gaps. It has a slight odor and an extremely bitter and lasting taste.

【Identification】

“Illustrated Materia Medica” states: “According to separate accounts, carefully inspect Picrorhiza; the genuine one produces dust like smoke when broken,” and “the one with flesh resembling the eye of a starling when broken is good.”
The best quality has thick segments, produces dust when broken, a grayish-black fracture surface, and a bitter taste.

【Identification Terminology】

1. Starling’s eye: Refers to the vascular bundle groups on the cross-section of Picrorhiza medicinal material. Its characteristic is that 4~10 off-white dotted vascular bundles are arranged in a ring, resembling a starling’s eye.
2. Fish scales: Refers to the scale leaves remaining on the surface of rhizome medicinal materials.

【Category】

Rhizomes