Anemarrhena Rhizome – 1 lb (454 g)

Anemarrhena Rhizome, known in Chinese as 知母 (Zhīmǔ) and scientifically as Rhizoma Anemarrhenae, is a valued herb in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). This TCM herb has been traditionally used to support natural wellness, maintain vitality, and encourage holistic balance. At TCMforyou.com, we provide premium-quality Anemarrhena Rhizome carefully sourced to preserve its therapeutic properties.

As a herbal supplement, Anemarrhena Rhizome helps promote overall well-being and supports natural energy, immunity, and balance. Integrating this herb into your wellness routine offers a gentle, time-tested approach to enhancing daily health. Whether brewed as tea, added to herbal remedies, or taken as part of a TCM formula, Anemarrhena Rhizome provides a safe, natural way to experience the benefits of traditional Chinese medicine.

Trusted for centuries, Anemarrhena Rhizome has been used in TCM to harmonize the body and encourage optimal functioning of key systems. At TCMforyou, we prioritize authenticity and quality. Each batch undergoes rigorous testing to ensure purity and potency, delivering an herbal product aligned with traditional practices.

Experience the natural support of Anemarrhena Rhizome, promoting immune health, vitality, and holistic well-being. Embrace the wisdom of TCM and incorporate this gentle, effective herbal remedy into your daily wellness journey.

[Overview] This herb is also known as Jimu, Dishen, Shuixu, and Huai Zhimu. It is the rhizome of Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bge., a plant of the Liliaceae family. It is mainly produced in Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Henan, Shandong, Liaoning, and Heilongjiang provinces. It is harvested in spring and autumn by digging up the rhizomes, removing withered leaves and fibrous roots, shaking off soil, then sun-dried or oven-dried, called “Mao Zhimu” (rough Zhimu). When fresh, the outer skin is peeled off and then sun-dried, called “Zhimu Rou” (Zhimu flesh).

[Properties] Bitter in taste, cold in nature. Enters the Lung, Stomach, and Kidney meridians.

[Actions] Clears heat and drains fire, nourishes yin and moistens dryness, quenches thirst and relieves irritability.

[Applications]
1. Used for externally contracted febrile diseases where the pathogen is in the qi level, characterized by high fever with sweating, irritability with thirst and desire to drink, a large and forceful pulse. Often used together with raw Gypsum and Licorice, as in Bai Hu Tang (White Tiger Decoction).
2. Used for lung heat cough with thick yellow sputum, feverish body, dry mouth, and sore throat. Commonly combined with Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus (Chuan Beimu), Mori Cortex (Sang Baipi), Scutellariae Radix (Huang Qin), Gardeniae Fructus (Shan Zhi), as in Er Mu Ning Sou Tang. If lung heat injures yin causing dry cough without sputum, dry throat, and wheezing, it is combined with Gypsum, Platycodon Root (Jie Geng), and Licorice.
3. Used for yin deficiency with vigorous fire, bone steaming and tidal fever, seminal emission, night sweating. Combined with Phellodendri Cortex (Huang Bai), Rehmanniae Radix (Sheng Di Huang), as in Zhi Bai Ba Wei Wan. If true yin in the kidney is exhausted, add Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata (Shu Di), Testudinis Plastrum (Gui Ban), and Pig Fat, as in Da Bu Yin Wan; if kidney deficiency fire affects the bladder causing urinary obstruction, combine with Huang Bai and Cinnamon Bark (Rou Gui), as in Tong Guan Wan.
4. Used for internal heat causing wasting-thirst disorder. For lung and stomach dryness heat injuring fluids and causing thirst, often combined with Dioscoreae Rhizoma (Shan Yao), Puerariae Radix (Ge Gen), Astragali Radix (Huang Qi), Trichosanthis Radix (Tian Hua Fen), as in Yu Ye Tang; if stomach heat causes wasting and consumption, combine with Gypsum, Coptidis Rhizoma (Huang Lian), Ophiopogonis Radix (Mai Dong); if kidney deficiency causes wasting and consumption, combine with Rehmanniae Radix, Dioscoreae Rhizoma; if qi and yin deficiency cause wasting-thirst, combine with Huang Qi, Shan Yao, Tian Hua Fen.
5. Used for febrile disease injuring fluids causing intestinal dryness and constipation, can be combined with Huang Bai, Scrophulariae Radix (Xuan Shen), and Sheng Di Huang.
Additionally, this herb can be used for yin and blood deficiency causing vexation and insomnia, often combined with Ziziphi Spinosae Semen (Suan Zao Ren); for pregnancy irritability and restless fetus qi, it can be combined with Ginseng or taken as pills with jujube.

[Dosage and Administration] Internal use: decoction, 6–12 g; or incorporated into pills and powders. To clear heat and drain fire, nourish yin and moisten dryness, it is best used raw; to enter the kidney channel to reduce fire and nourish yin, it is best stir-fried with salt water.

[Cautions] Contraindicated in cases of spleen and stomach deficiency cold with loose stools or diarrhea.

[Modern Research]
1. Chemical constituents include various timosaponins, polysaccharides, as well as reducing sugars, mucilage, choline, niacin, pantothenic acid, tannins, mangiferin, etc.
2. Pharmacological actions: Zhimu decoction shows inhibitory effects in vitro against dysentery bacillus, typhoid and paratyphoid bacilli, Escherichia coli, pneumococcus, staphylococcus, and pathogenic skin fungi; aqueous extracts and Zhimu polysaccharides have hypoglycemic effects; Zhimu extract has antipyretic effects in febrile rabbits; it delays metabolism of adrenal cortex hormones in vivo; total saponins from Zhimu strongly inhibit ADP-, 5-HT-, and AA-induced platelet aggregation in rabbits and humans.
3. Clinical reports: For folliculitis, using Zhimu and Prunella vulgaris decoction applied cold to affected areas treated 19 cases of scalp perifolliculitis with all cases effective. [Clinical Dermatology Journal, 1985, (5):275]