Beautiful Medicine!

"A Plant a Day"- White Peony, Bai Shao (Paeonia lactiflora)-

 Native to central and eastern Asia, the White Peony is the common peony that has been bred into numerous garden cultivars, available in a number of different colors (ranging from whites, pinks and reds) and multiples of petals. Peonies are large beautiful garden flowers that have old fashioned rose-like appearances. Peonies are beautiful in the garden and are also popular in the cut flower trade. Common meanings to the flower include romance, abundance (wealth), happy marriage and compassion.

White Peony is also an important traditional herbal medicine in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). White Peony root (Bai Shao) is valued in TCM for mood stabilizing and mental focus benefits. After digging the root, it is prepared by peeling, boiling in water and drying the root in the sun to give a white to pink appearance. The “Red Peony”, on the other hand, is unpeeled and is red in color. In TCM the White Peony root is used to remove “heat from the liver”, and is used for symptoms including muscle spasms, abdominal pain, fertility, and painful and irregular periods in women.  Through scientific investigation, we know there is a constituent called paeoniflorin that has smooth muscle relaxing, analgesic and antispasmodic activity. In practice and also in clinical studies, Peony is normally combined with other herbs appropriate for the indication, such as licorice for dysmenorrhea.

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Photo by Ulf Eliasson