Acorus calamus is a species of flowering plant with psychoactive chemicals. It is a tall wetland monocot of the family Acoraceae, in the genus Acorus. Although used in traditional medicine over centuries to treat digestive disorders and pain, there is no clinical evidence for its safety or efficacy – and ingested calamus may be toxic – leading to its commercial ban in the United States.
Chinese herbology is the theory of traditional Chinese herbal therapy, which accounts for the majority of treatments in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A Nature editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", and said that the most obvious reason why it has not delivered many cures is that the majority of its treatments have no logical mechanism of action.
Alisma plantago-aquatica, also known as European water-plantain, common water-plantain or mad-dog weed, is a perennial flowering aquatic plant widespread across most of Europe and Asia, and apparently spread elsewhere in both the Old and New World.
Angelica sinensis, commonly known as dong quai or female ginseng, is a herb belonging to the family Apiaceae, indigenous to China. Angelica sinensis grows in cool high altitude mountains in East Asia. The yellowish brown root of the plant is harvested in the fall and is a well-known Chinese medicine which has been used for thousands of years.
Rehmannia is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the order Lamiales and family Orobanchaceae, endemic to China. It has been placed as the only member of the monotypic tribe Rehmannieae, but molecular phylogenetic studies suggest that it forms a clade with Triaenophora. Contrary to the immense majority of the taxa of Orobanchaceae, Rehmannia is not parasitic.
Before the handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997, medical education in this former British colony traditionally and exclusively followed the path of western medicine. Faculties of Medicine were modelled after those in the United Kingdom, and only doctors trained in western medicine were considered "formal" and "reliable." Chinese medicine practitioners had no formal status at that time. However, after the return of the territory to China, the practice of traditional Chinese medicine was further regulated and schools of Chinese Medicine were set up within some of the government funded tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. The first school of its kind, the School of Chinese Medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University, was established in 1998. Currently, there are two faculties with academic programmes in western medicine and three schools of Chinese Medicine in the city.
Alpinia galanga, a plant in the ginger family, bears a rhizome used largely as an herb in Unani medicine and as a spice in Arab cuisine and Southeast Asian cookery. It is one of four plants known as "galangal". Its common names include greater galangal, lengkuas, and blue ginger.
Andrographis paniculata, commonly known as creat or green chiretta, is an annual herbaceous plant in the family Acanthaceae, native to India and Sri Lanka.
Chinese classic herbal formulas are combinations of herbs used in Chinese herbology for supposed greater efficiency in comparison to individual herbs. They are the basic herbal formulas that students of Traditional Chinese medicine learn. Later these students will adapt these classic formulas to match the needs of each patient.
Alpinia officinarum, known as lesser galangal, is a plant in the ginger family, cultivated in Southeast Asia. It originated in China, where its name ultimately derives. It can grow 1.5 to 2 m high, with long leaves and reddish-white flowers. The rhizomes, known as galangal, are valued for their sweet spicy flavor and aromatic scent. These are used throughout Asia in curries and perfumes, and were previously used widely in Europe. They are also used as a herbal remedy.
Acacia confusa is a perennial tree native to South-East Asia. Some common names for it are acacia petit feuille, Ayangile, small Philippine acacia, Formosa acacia, Philippine Wattle, and Formosan koa. It grows to a height of 15 m. The tree has become very common in many tropical Pacific areas, including Hawaii, where the species is considered invasive.
Musa basjoo, known variously as Japanese banana, Japanese fibre banana or hardy banana, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the banana family Musaceae. It was previously thought to have originated in the Ryukyu islands of southern Japan, from where it was first described in cultivation, but is now known to have originated in subtropical southern China, where it is also widely cultivated, with wild populations found in Sichuan province. Its specific name is derived from its Japanese common name, bashō (芭蕉).
Artemisia princeps, also commonly called yomogi, Japanese mugwort, Korean wormwood, Korean mugwort or first wormwood in English, is an Asian plant species in the sunflower family, native to China, Japan and Korea. It is a perennial, very vigorous plant that grows to 1.2 meters. This species spreads rapidly by means of underground stolons and can become invasive. It bears small, buff-colored flowers from July to November which are hermaphroditic, and pollinated by wind. The leaves are feather shaped, scalloped and light green, with white dense fuzz on the underside.
Bistorta macrophylla is a flowering plant species in the buckwheat family Polygonaceae. It is native to mountain regions of West and South China, Bhutan, Nepal, northern India, and Pakistan.
Iris tenuifolia is a beardless iris in the genus Iris, in the subgenus Limniris and in the series Tenuifoliae of the genus. It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial, from a wide region over central Asia, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, ; Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia and in China. It has long greyish-green leaves, short stem and pale violet, lilac, pale blue, or purple flowers.
Iris potaninii is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus of Iris and in the Psammiris section. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from Siberia in Russia, Mongolia and China. It is a dwarf plant, having either subterranean or very small stems, long thin leaves and yellow, or dark violet to purplish blue flowers. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions.
Iris leptophylla is a plant species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Iris and in the section Pseudoregelia. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from China. It has thin, long grey-green leaves, long slender stem and 2 fragrant purple, blue-purple, violet or lavender pink flowers. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions.
Saposhnikovia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae. Its only species is Saposhnikovia divaricata, known as fángfēng防風 in Chinese, bangpung in Korean, and siler in English. The plant is still frequently referenced under the obsolete genus name Ledebouriella in many online sources devoted to traditional Chinese medicine. It was first described as Stenocoelium divaricatum by Nikolai Turczaninow in 1844, and transferred to Saposhnikovia in 1951.
Nymphaea tetragona is an aquatic perennial species of flowering plant commonly called pygmy waterlily and small white water lily, belonging to the family Nymphaeaceae.
Carex zunyiensis is a plant species of the genus Carex and the family Cyperaceae
