This product is the dried roots and rhizomes of Rheum palmatum L., Rheum tanguticum Maxim. ex Balf. or Rheum officinale Baill. of the Polygonaceae family. It is dug either when the stems and leaves wither at the end of autumn or before germination in the following spring. After removing the fine roots and scraping off the outer skin, it is cut into pieces or sections, strung together with a rope and dried, or dried directly.

Properties, Flavors and Meridian Tropisms
Bitter in flavor, cold in nature. It pertains to the spleen, stomach, large intestine, liver and pericardium meridians.
Functions and Indications
Promotes purgation to remove accumulation, clears heat and purges fire, cools blood and removes toxins, promotes blood circulation to remove stasis and regulate menstruation, and promotes diuresis to relieve jaundice. It is used for constipation due to excessive heat and accumulation, hematemesis and epistaxis caused by blood heat, redness and swelling of the eyes and throat, carbuncles, boils, appendicitis with abdominal pain, amenorrhea due to blood stasis, postpartum stasis obstruction, traumatic injuries, damp-heat dysentery, jaundice with dark urine, stranguria,