White Peony

Latin name: Radix Paeoniae Alba

Chinese Name: Bai-Shao (White Peony)

Traditional Uses

Actions: Supplements blood, controls pain, alleviates sudden onset of disease

Applications: Chest, abdominal, and costal pain, dysentery, spasm of the limbs, fever due to yin-deficiency, menorrhagia, functional bleeding

Pharmacology

(1) Antispasmodic and analgesic effects: In experiments using extirpated rabbits’ intestinal tracts and tests on smooth muscle of unextirpated rats’ stomach and uterus, it has been shown to lower the tonicity of the muscles and inhibit activities.

(2) Sedative effect: Paeoniflorin inhibits the central nervous system.

(3) Antibacterial effect: It possesses quite pronounced antibacterial action on Staphylococcus aureus and Shigella dysenteriae.

(4) Other effects: Preliminary experiments show that the herb inhibits gastric secretion and prevents the development of gastric ulcers due to nervousness in rats. Clinical observation indicates that the herb inhibits diaphoresis and diuresis.

Reference: Hung-yen Hsu, Ph.D. and Associates: Oriental Materia Medica A Concise Guide 1986, Keats Publishing