✵This article documents the herb Patient Dock Root, including its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavor, botanical source—namely, the single plant species Rumex patientia L.—and provides a detailed description of the plant’s botanical features, growth characteristics, ecological environment, macroscopic and microscopic features of the root, pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Radix Rumecis Patientiae (Patient Dock Root)
Pinyin Name: Niú Xī Xī
English Name: Patient Dock Root
Latin Name:Radix Rumecis Patientiae Properties and Flavor: Cold, bitter, sour
Brief Introduction:Radix Rumicis Patientiae is the dried root of Rumex patientia L., used as a blood-cooling and hemostatic herb for hemorrhages caused by excessive heat in the blood. It is commonly known as Radix Rumicis Patientiae, Patient Dock Root, or Niú Xī Xī.
Botanical source: Classical Chinese herbal works—including authoritative monographs—define Radix Rumicis Patientiae (Patient Dock Root) as the dried root of Rumex patientia L., a species belonging to the genus Rumex L., family Polygonaceae (smartweed or buckwheat family), order Caryophyllales. This widely used species is described below:
(1) Rumex patientia L.
Botanical Description:Rumex patientia L. is commonly known as Bā Tiān Suān Mú or Niú ěr Suān Mú (“cow ear–like rumex”) and Bō Cài Suān Mú (“spinach–like rumex”). It is a perennial herb growing up to 1–1.5 m tall. The roots are stout and tawny (yellowish-brown). The stem is erect and stout, simple or branched. Basal leaves have long petioles and are oblong-oval, with a rounded or cordate base, 15–30 cm long, and entire or undulate; cauline leaves are smaller, oblong-lanceolate, subsessile, and bear membranous, tubular ocreae (stipular sheaths).
Large panicles are terminal and axillary. Flowers are hermaphroditic; most are arranged in clusters and whorls. Pedicels bear joints below the middle. There are 6 tepals (perianth segments), viridescent (pea-green), arranged in two whorls and persistent; the three inner tepals enlarge in fruit and bear tubercles at their bases. There are 6 stamens. The ovary is superior, with 3 styles and finely lobed stigmas.
Achenes are ovate-trigonous, ~3 mm long, brown, and enclosed within the persistent perianth. Flowering occurs from May to June; fruiting, from August to September.
Ecological Environment: This plant grows in valleys, along roadsides, in meadows, and beside ditches.
Characteristics of the Herb: The root is cylindrical or conical, occasionally branched, up to 20 cm long and 5 cm in diameter. The root head is swollen, bearing a residual stem base at the apex; surrounding it are brownish-black, scaly leaf-base fiber bundles and fibrous root scars. Dense transverse striations occur just below the root head. The surface is brownish-gray to tan (chocolate brown), with longitudinal wrinkles, punctate fibrous root marks, and elongated, lenticel-like scars. The texture is tough and difficult to fracture; the fracture surface is sallow (grayish-yellow) and strongly fibrous. The herb has a faint odor and a bitter taste.
Pharmacological Actions: (1) Hemostatic effect; (2) Significant increase in platelet count in patients with thrombocytopenia.
Medicinal Efficacy: Clears heat and detoxifies; activates blood circulation and stops bleeding; reduces swelling; moistens the intestines and relieves constipation; expels parasites. Indicated for hematemesis, epistaxis, bleeding from the orifices or subcutaneous tissues, hematochezia, dysentery, hepatitis, internal bleeding, thrombocytopenia, purpura (hemoculosis), chronic enteritis, leukorrhea with bloody discharge, traumatic injury, constipation, dysuria, carbuncles, scabies, swellings due to toxicity, abscesses, suppurative boils, and burns (e.g., scalds or thermal injuries).
Administration of Radix Rumecis Patientiae (Niú Xī Xī):
Reference:
Administration Guide of Radix Rumecis Patientiae (Niú Xī Xī)
TCM Books:
(1) Internally: water decoction, 3–5 qian (≈9–15 grams); externally: apply mashed herb topically, prepare a paste with vinegar and apply topically, or apply finely ground herb powder topically. (2) Internally: water decoction, 10–30 grams; externally: appropriate amount—apply mashed herb topically, prepare a vinegar paste and apply topically, apply finely ground herb powder topically, or wash with water decoction.
Contraindications, Precautions, and Adverse Reactions: Overdose of Patient Dock Root may cause diarrhea and vomiting; excessive ingestion of stems and leaves may lead to abdominal distension, hypersalivation, gastroenteritis, and diarrhea. Management: administer activated charcoal or albumin tannate orally; intravenous infusion of 5% glucose in normal saline; and provide supportive/symptomatic treatment.
✵This article documents the herb Patient Dock Root, including its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavor, botanical source—namely, the single plant species Rumex patientia L.—and provides a detailed description of the plant’s botanical features, growth characteristics, ecological environment, macroscopic and microscopic features of the root, pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Pinyin Name: Niú Xī Xī
Botanical Description: Rumex patientia L. is commonly known as Bā Tiān Suān Mú or Niú ěr Suān Mú (“cow ear–like rumex”) and Bō Cài Suān Mú (“spinach–like rumex”). It is a perennial herb growing up to 1–1.5 m tall. The roots are stout and tawny (yellowish-brown). The stem is erect and stout, simple or branched. Basal leaves have long petioles and are oblong-oval, with a rounded or cordate base, 15–30 cm long, and entire or undulate; cauline leaves are smaller, oblong-lanceolate, subsessile, and bear membranous, tubular ocreae (stipular sheaths).
Large panicles are terminal and axillary. Flowers are hermaphroditic; most are arranged in clusters and whorls. Pedicels bear joints below the middle. There are 6 tepals (perianth segments), viridescent (pea-green), arranged in two whorls and persistent; the three inner tepals enlarge in fruit and bear tubercles at their bases. There are 6 stamens. The ovary is superior, with 3 styles and finely lobed stigmas.
Ecological Environment: This plant grows in valleys, along roadsides, in meadows, and beside ditches.
Characteristics of the Herb: The root is cylindrical or conical, occasionally branched, up to 20 cm long and 5 cm in diameter. The root head is swollen, bearing a residual stem base at the apex; surrounding it are brownish-black, scaly leaf-base fiber bundles and fibrous root scars. Dense transverse striations occur just below the root head. The surface is brownish-gray to tan (chocolate brown), with longitudinal wrinkles, punctate fibrous root marks, and elongated, lenticel-like scars. The texture is tough and difficult to fracture; the fracture surface is sallow (grayish-yellow) and strongly fibrous. The herb has a faint odor and a bitter taste.
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