✵The article records the herb Tree Peony Bark—its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavor, botanical source—the single plant species Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.,—and provides a detailed description of the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environment of this species; the characteristics of the herb Tree Peony Bark; its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Cortex Moutan (Tree Peony Bark)
Pinyin Name: Mǔ Dān Pí
English Name: Tree Peony Bark
Latin Name:Cortex Moutan Properties and Flavors: Slightly cold; pungent and bitter.
Brief Introduction:Cortex Moutan is the dried root bark of Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. It is used to (1) clear heat and cool the blood—indicated for febrile diseases with maculopapular eruptions and hemorrhagic manifestations—and (2) invigorate blood and dispel stasis—indicated for amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, traumatic injuries, boils, sores, and appendicitis. The herb is commonly known as Cortex Moutan, Tree Peony Bark, or Mǔ Dān Pí.
Botanical Source:Cortex Moutan (Tree Peony Bark) is the dried root bark of *Paeonia suffruticosa* Andr., a deciduous, perennial, woody shrub belonging to the genus Paeonia, family Paeoniaceae (peony family), order Saxifragales. This is the sole botanical source used in traditional Chinese medicine.
(1) Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.
Botanical Description:Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. is a perennial, deciduous, semi-shrubby (woody) plant of the family Paeoniaceae and genus Paeonia. It is also known as Paeonia moutan Sims. and Paeonia yunnanensis Fang. Common names include Tree Peony, Mǔ Dān, Shū Gǔ, Lù Jiǔ, Mù Sháo Yào, and Luòyáng Huā. It is a slow-growing, woody shrub reaching 0.5–2 m in height. The root is thick, robust, and elongated, with a lignified central core. The stem is erect; branches are stout; the bark is charcoal-gray. Leaves are alternate and chartaceous (papery); petioles measure 5–11 cm and are glabrous. Leaves are typically biternate compound, though occasionally pinnately compound; upper stem leaves tend to be trifoliolate. Terminal leaflets are usually 3-lobed (7–8 cm long, 5.5–7 cm wide); lobes may be further 2–3-lobed or entire. The upper surface is green and glabrous; the lower surface is pale green (pea-green), sometimes glaucous (covered with a whitish bloom); sparse, short, soft hairs occur along the veins, or the surface is subglabrous. Petiolules are 1.2–3 cm long. Lateral leaflets are narrowly ovate or oblong-ovate (4.5–6.5 cm long, 2.5–4 cm wide), 2–3-lobed or entire, and subsessile.
Flowers are hermaphroditic, solitary, and terminal, 10–20 cm in diameter. Pedicels are 4–6 cm long. There are 5 oblong-ovate bracts, unequal in size. There are 5 broad-ovate sepals, unequal in size, green and persistent. Petals number 5—or more in cultivated polyphyllous forms—obovate (5–8 cm long, 4.2–6 cm wide), with irregularly undulating apices. Colors vary widely: purple, red, pink, rose, yellow, pea-green, or white. Stamens are numerous, 1–1.7 cm long, filaments are violet-red to reddish-purple; anthers are yellow. The floral disc is cyathiform (cotyloid), coriaceous, with several sharp teeth or lobes at the apex, completely enveloping the carpels; carpels dehisce at maturity. Carpels number 5 (rarely more), free, green, and densely pubescent.
Follicles are oblong, dehiscing along the ventral suture, and densely covered with yellow-brown hirsute indumentum. Flowering occurs from April to May; fruiting from June to July.
Ecological Environment:Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. is widely cultivated across China primarily as an ornamental plant.
Following domestication from wild progenitors, continuous artificial cultivation under varying environmental conditions has led to extensive phenotypic variation—not only in flower color, form, and blooming time, but also in diurnal patterns, plant architecture, root length, stem thickness, and leaf shape, size, and color. Additional traits have also undergone mutational changes.
Growth Characteristics: The plant prefers a warm, humid climate but is cold-tolerant and drought-resistant. It is sensitive to waterlogging and high temperatures, and intolerant of intense sunlight. Optimal soils are deep, well-drained, fertile, and loose—sandy loam or silty loam. Saline-alkaline soils and heavy clay soils are unsuitable. Continuous cropping should be avoided; rotation every three to five years is recommended.
Characteristics of the Herb:Cortex Moutan: The root bark is fistuliform (tubulose), semi-tubular, or broken into pieces, with vertically fissured surfaces; both sides are mostly inflexed (curled inward). It measures 5–20 cm in length, 0.1–1.5 cm in diameter, and 0.1–0.4 cm in thickness. The outer surface is taupe (grayish-brown) or puce (purple-brown); where the coarse bark has sloughed off, the underlying tissue appears pink, bearing slightly protruding oblong transverse lenticels and remnants of rootlets. The inner surface is brown or ravous (light grayish-yellow), marked with fine vertical lines, and often displays glossy silver stars (paeonol crystals). The herb is hard and brittle, fractures easily, and yields a flat, powdery fracture surface: the outer layer is taupe (grayish-brown), and the inner layer is pinkish-white or light pink, sometimes exhibiting a faint circular ring pattern. It possesses a distinctive strong aroma; the taste is slightly bitter and cool, puckering upon chewing, with a mild numbing sensation on the tongue.
Scraped peony bark: The surface bears knife scratches and is reddish-brown or pinkish-yellow, with numerous shallow transverse scars and rootlet remnants, and only a few taupe (grayish-brown) spots—residual coarse bark that was incompletely removed.
Medicinal Efficacy: This herb clears heat and cools the blood, activates blood circulation and dispels stasis. It is indicated for heat entering the blood stage in febrile or warm diseases, hematemesis, epistaxis, latent heat in the Yin stage, and fever in the later stages of febrile illness, etc.
Administration of Cortex Moutan (Mǔ Dān Pí):
Reference:
Administration Guide of Cortex Moutan (Mǔ Dān Pí)
TCM Books:
(1) Internally: 6–12 grams; (2) Internally: Water decoction, 1.5–3 qian (≈4.5–9 grams), or prepared as pills or powder; (3) Internally: Water decoction, 6–9 grams, or prepared as pills or powder.
Contraindications, Precautions, and Adverse Reactions: Cortex Moutan should be used with caution during pregnancy or in women with menorrhagia.
✵The article records the herb Tree Peony Bark—its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavor, botanical source—the single plant species Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.,—and provides a detailed description of the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environment of this species; the characteristics of the herb Tree Peony Bark; its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Pinyin Name: Mǔ Dān Pí
Botanical Description: Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. is a perennial, deciduous, semi-shrubby (woody) plant of the family Paeoniaceae and genus Paeonia. It is also known as Paeonia moutan Sims. and Paeonia yunnanensis Fang. Common names include Tree Peony, Mǔ Dān, Shū Gǔ, Lù Jiǔ, Mù Sháo Yào, and Luòyáng Huā. It is a slow-growing, woody shrub reaching 0.5–2 m in height. The root is thick, robust, and elongated, with a lignified central core. The stem is erect; branches are stout; the bark is charcoal-gray. Leaves are alternate and chartaceous (papery); petioles measure 5–11 cm and are glabrous. Leaves are typically biternate compound, though occasionally pinnately compound; upper stem leaves tend to be trifoliolate. Terminal leaflets are usually 3-lobed (7–8 cm long, 5.5–7 cm wide); lobes may be further 2–3-lobed or entire. The upper surface is green and glabrous; the lower surface is pale green (pea-green), sometimes glaucous (covered with a whitish bloom); sparse, short, soft hairs occur along the veins, or the surface is subglabrous. Petiolules are 1.2–3 cm long. Lateral leaflets are narrowly ovate or oblong-ovate (4.5–6.5 cm long, 2.5–4 cm wide), 2–3-lobed or entire, and subsessile.
Ecological Environment: Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. is widely cultivated across China primarily as an ornamental plant.
Characteristics of the Herb: Cortex Moutan: The root bark is fistuliform (tubulose), semi-tubular, or broken into pieces, with vertically fissured surfaces; both sides are mostly inflexed (curled inward). It measures 5–20 cm in length, 0.1–1.5 cm in diameter, and 0.1–0.4 cm in thickness. The outer surface is taupe (grayish-brown) or puce (purple-brown); where the coarse bark has sloughed off, the underlying tissue appears pink, bearing slightly protruding oblong transverse lenticels and remnants of rootlets. The inner surface is brown or ravous (light grayish-yellow), marked with fine vertical lines, and often displays glossy silver stars (paeonol crystals). The herb is hard and brittle, fractures easily, and yields a flat, powdery fracture surface: the outer layer is taupe (grayish-brown), and the inner layer is pinkish-white or light pink, sometimes exhibiting a faint circular ring pattern. It possesses a distinctive strong aroma; the taste is slightly bitter and cool, puckering upon chewing, with a mild numbing sensation on the tongue.
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