✵This article documents the traditional Chinese medicinal herb Gastrodia elata, including its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavor, its one botanical source, Gastrodia elata Bl., and detailed descriptions of its morphology, growth characteristics, ecological requirements, pharmacological actions, therapeutic efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Rhizoma Gastrodiae (Gastrodia Tuber)
Pinyin Name: Tiān Má
English Name: Gastrodia Tuber
Latin Name:Rhizoma Gastrodiae Properties and Flavor: Neutral; sweet
Brief Introduction:Rhizoma Gastrodiae is the dried tuber of Gastrodia elata Blume. It is clinically used: (1) to extinguish internal wind and relieve spasms—indicated for convulsions and hemiplegia following apoplexy; (2) to pacify the liver and subdue hyperactive Yang—alleviating headache, dizziness, and vertigo; and (3) to dispel wind-dampness and relieve bi syndrome (painful obstruction). It is commonly referred to as Rhizoma Gastrodiae, Gastrodia Tuber, or Tiān Má.
Botanical Source: Classical herbal works define Rhizoma Gastrodiae (also known as “Tall Gastrodia Tuber”) as the dried rhizome of Gastrodia elata Blume—a perennial, achlorophyllous, mycoheterotrophic orchid in the genus Gastrodia, family Orchidaceae, order Asparagales.
(1) Gastrodia elata Blume
Botanical Description:Gastrodia elata is a leafless, parasitic (more precisely, mycoheterotrophic) orchid species native to East Asia. It grows 30–100 cm tall, occasionally reaching up to 2 m. The entire plant lacks chlorophyll and thus appears pale yellowish-white to brownish. The tuber is fleshy, thickened, oblong, typically 8–12 cm long and 3–4.5 cm in diameter, with faint annular nodes. The scape (flowering stem) is cylindrical, erect, yellowish-red to reddish-brown. Scale leaves are membranous, lanceolate to ovate, 1–2 cm long, with fine parallel venation; the lower portion forms a short, clasping sheath around the stem.
The inflorescence is a terminal raceme, 10–30 cm long, bearing 30–50 densely arranged, yellowish-red flowers. Pedicels are short (2–3 mm). Floral bracts are membranous, narrow-lanceolate to linear-oblong, ~1 cm long. The perianth tube is curved and galeate (hooded), with an oblique opening; its base is slightly swollen ventrally, and the apex is 5-lobed—lobes small and triangular. The labellum is approximately two-thirds the height of the perianth tube, trilobed; the central lobe is largest, stipitate at its base within the perianth tube. The gynostemium (synsepalous column) is 5–6 mm long, terminating in two minute apical appendages. The ovary is obovate, with a short, twisted gynophore.
Fruits are oblong to oblong-obovate capsules, ~15 mm long, shortly stipitate. Seeds are numerous, minute, dust-like, and non-endospermic. Flowering occurs from June to July; fruiting from July to August.
Ecological Environment:Gastrodia elata thrives in cool, moist, humus-rich habitats—typically under sparse forests, at forest margins, or along shrub edges—at elevations of 400–3,200 m above sea level. It is widely distributed across China and is now predominantly cultivated. Wild populations also occur in Nepal, Bhutan, and Siberia.
Growth Characteristics:Gastrodia elata requires a cool, humid environment and is sensitive to frost, drought, high temperatures, and waterlogging. It possesses no true roots or photosynthetic leaves. Its entire life cycle spans approximately two years, during which it remains entirely subterranean as a dormant tuber. Nutrition is obtained exclusively via symbiotic association with Armillaria spp. (honey fungus) mycelia—a mycoheterotrophic relationship essential for germination, growth, and development. For cultivation, well-drained, loose, humus-rich sandy loam soil with pH 5.5–6.0 is optimal.
Characteristics of the Herb: The tubers are oblong-oval or long, slightly flattened strips, wrinkled and slightly curved, 5–12 cm or 3–15 cm in length, 1.5–6 cm or 2–6 cm in width, and 0.5–2 cm or 0.5–3 cm in thickness. The surface is yellowish-white or pale yellow to yellowish-brown, slightly translucent, with vertical wrinkles and grooves, and bears a ring pattern composed of punctate cicatrices (multiple concentric circular patterns formed by an arrangement of latent buds); sometimes a visible brown rhizomorph is present. There are reddish-brown to dark-brown parrot-beak-shaped buds at the apex (Winter Gastrodia, commonly known as “parrot-beak” Gastrodia), a residual stem base or stem scar (Spring Gastrodia), and a round, umbilicate scar at the base. The herb is firm and hard, not easily broken; the fracture surface is flat, keratinous, off-white to pale brown, glossy, with radial cracks in the central portion. The herb has a distinctive odor and tastes sweet with a slight pungency.
Medicinal efficacy: Calming endogenous wind and relieving convulsions, arresting spasms, subduing hyperactive Liver-Yang, dispelling wind, and unblocking the collaterals. It is indicated for infantile convulsions, acute and chronic convulsions in children, epilepsy, spasm (muscle rigidity), tetanus (lockjaw), headache and dizziness, vertigo and blurred vision, wind-related headache (intermittent headache), hemiplegia, limb numbness, rheumatic arthralgia, and aphasia (inability to speak or comprehend language due to cerebral lesion).
Administration of Rhizoma Gastrodiae (Tiān Má):
Reference:
Administration Guide for Rhizoma Gastrodiae (Tiān Má)
TCM Books:
(1) Internally: 3–10 grams; (2) Internally: water decoction, 1.5–3 qián (≈4.5–9 grams), or prepared as pills or powder; (3) Internally: water decoction, 3–10 grams, or prepared as pills, powder, or finely ground herb powder administered orally, 1–1.5 grams per dose.
✵This article documents the traditional Chinese medicinal herb Gastrodia elata, including its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavor, its one botanical source, Gastrodia elata Bl., and detailed descriptions of its morphology, growth characteristics, ecological requirements, pharmacological actions, therapeutic efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Pinyin Name: Tiān Má
Botanical Description: Gastrodia elata is a leafless, parasitic (more precisely, mycoheterotrophic) orchid species native to East Asia. It grows 30–100 cm tall, occasionally reaching up to 2 m. The entire plant lacks chlorophyll and thus appears pale yellowish-white to brownish. The tuber is fleshy, thickened, oblong, typically 8–12 cm long and 3–4.5 cm in diameter, with faint annular nodes. The scape (flowering stem) is cylindrical, erect, yellowish-red to reddish-brown. Scale leaves are membranous, lanceolate to ovate, 1–2 cm long, with fine parallel venation; the lower portion forms a short, clasping sheath around the stem.
Fruits are oblong to oblong-obovate capsules, ~15 mm long, shortly stipitate. Seeds are numerous, minute, dust-like, and non-endospermic. Flowering occurs from June to July; fruiting from July to August.
Characteristics of the Herb: The tubers are oblong-oval or long, slightly flattened strips, wrinkled and slightly curved, 5–12 cm or 3–15 cm in length, 1.5–6 cm or 2–6 cm in width, and 0.5–2 cm or 0.5–3 cm in thickness. The surface is yellowish-white or pale yellow to yellowish-brown, slightly translucent, with vertical wrinkles and grooves, and bears a ring pattern composed of punctate cicatrices (multiple concentric circular patterns formed by an arrangement of latent buds); sometimes a visible brown rhizomorph is present. There are reddish-brown to dark-brown parrot-beak-shaped buds at the apex (Winter Gastrodia, commonly known as “parrot-beak” Gastrodia), a residual stem base or stem scar (Spring Gastrodia), and a round, umbilicate scar at the base. The herb is firm and hard, not easily broken; the fracture surface is flat, keratinous, off-white to pale brown, glossy, with radial cracks in the central portion. The herb has a distinctive odor and tastes sweet with a slight pungency.
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