Salvia Miltiorrhiza (Zidanshen)

Salvia miltiorrhiza紫丹参 is a perennial, erect herbaceous plant in the Lamiaceae family and the genus Salvia. The plant can grow up to 80 cm tall; its main root is fleshy and deep red; the stems are heavily branched and covered with long, soft hairs; the leaves are odd-pinnate with oval or broad-lanceolate leaflets, and the petioles are densely covered with backward-facing long soft hairs. The inflorescence is a whorled cyme, densely covered with long soft hairs or glandular soft hairs, with lanceolate bracts. The calyx is bell-shaped and purple, while the corolla is purple-blue. The filaments are 3.5-4 mm long, and the connective is 1.7-2 cm long, with the style extending outward. The nutlets are oval in shape. The flowering period is from April to August, and the fruiting period is from September to November.

Distribution: Salvia miltiorrhiza is distributed in China across regions such as Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Henan, and Jiangsu, and it is also cultivated in Japan. It grows on slopes, under forest thickets, or near stream valleys at altitudes of 120-1300 meters. The plant prefers a mild and humid climate, is cold-tolerant, highly adaptable, and is suitable for cultivation in sunny locations with deep, well-drained sandy soils. Propagation is generally carried out by seeds, root division, or cuttings.

Medicinal Uses: The root of Salvia miltiorrhiza can be used as medicine and contains tanshinone, which is a potent emmenagogue. It has the effects of removing stasis, promoting new tissue growth, invigorating blood circulation, and regulating menstruation. It is primarily used to treat uterine bleeding, menstrual irregularities, blood stasis, abdominal pain, and dysmenorrhea. It is also effective in treating coronary heart disease. Additionally, it is used to treat neurasthenia and insomnia, joint pain, lymphadenitis, carbuncles, and swellings, as well as acute and chronic hepatitis, and pyelonephritis. Externally, it can be used to wash lacquer sores.

Botanical History

Historical Records: Salvia miltiorrhiza was first recorded in the “Shennong Bencao Jing” (Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica), where it was classified as a top-grade herb. The text states: “Salvia miltiorrhiza has a bitter taste and slightly cold nature; it mainly treats pathogenic factors in the heart and abdomen, bowel sounds as if water is running through, accumulations of cold and heat, dissolves abdominal masses, and stops irritability and fullness, tonifies Qi.” Subsequent materia medica texts throughout history also discussed it. For instance, “Wu Pu Bencao” mentions: “Salvia miltiorrhiza is also known as Red Ginseng or Wood Lamb’s Milk, found in Tongbai or on the shady slopes of Mount Tai. The stems are small, square like Perilla, with hair; the root is red; it flowers purple in April, and the roots are harvested in March and May, then dried in the shade. It treats heart and abdominal pain.” “Tang Bencao” states: “This herb is best harvested in winter, but if collected in the summer months, it will be less effective.” “Tujing Bencao” notes: “Salvia miltiorrhiza grows in the valleys of Tongbai Mountain and Mount Tai, and now it is also found in the states and counties of Shaanxi and Suizhou. It sprouts in February, grows to about a foot tall, with square green stems. The leaves grow opposite each other, similar to mint but with hair. It flowers in March with red-purple blooms, resembling the flowers of Perilla. The root is red, as thick as a finger, and over a foot long, with multiple roots per plant. It is harvested in May and sun-dried.” It also mentions that the herb collected in winter is of good quality, whereas the one collected in summer is inferior. The accompanying illustration of Suizhou Salvia miltiorrhiza is included in this text. “Bencao Gangmu” states: “It is found in mountains everywhere, with five leaves per branch. The leaves are pointed like wild Perilla, green, hairy, and wrinkled. The small flowers are spike-like, resembling moths, with tiny seeds inside. The root skin is red, and the flesh is purple.” The descriptions of Salvia miltiorrhiza in the “Shennong Bencao Jing” to the “Bencao Gangmu” all refer to the root of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge., a species in the genus Salvia.

Morphological Characteristics:

Salvia miltiorrhiza is a perennial erect herb; its root is thick, fleshy, red on the outside, and white on the inside, 5-15 cm long, and 4-14 mm in diameter, with sparse lateral roots. The stems are erect, 40-80 cm tall, square, grooved, densely covered with long soft hairs, and heavily branched. The leaves are often odd-pinnate, with leaf stalks 1.3-7.5 cm long, densely covered with downward long soft hairs; the leaflets are 3-5 (7), 1.5-8 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, oval, or elliptic-oval, or broad-lanceolate, with an acute or acuminate apex, rounded or oblique base, and serrated margins. The texture is herbaceous, with sparse hairs on both surfaces, denser underneath. The leaflet petioles are 2-14 mm long, densely covered with long soft hairs like the leaf axis. The inflorescence is a whorled cyme with 6 or more flowers, sparse at the lower part and dense at the upper part, forming a 4.5-17 cm long, pedunculate, terminal, or axillary raceme; the bracts are lanceolate, with a tapering apex, wedge-shaped base, entire margins, hairless on the upper surface, sparsely hairy underneath, and shorter or longer than the pedicels; the pedicels are 3-4 mm long, the rachis is densely covered with long soft hairs or glandular long soft hairs.

The calyx is bell-shaped, purple, about 1.1 cm long, slightly enlarging after flowering, with sparse long soft hairs and glandular long soft hairs on the outside, with marginal hairs, densely covered with white stiff hairs inside the midsection, with 11 veins, and is bilabiate; the upper lip is entire, triangular, about 4 mm long, 8 mm wide, with three small apices, the lateral veins having narrow wings, the lower lip is almost as long as the upper lip, deeply divided into two triangular teeth with a tapering apex. The corolla is purple-blue, 2-2.7 cm long, externally covered with glandular short soft hairs, especially dense on the upper lip, with an oblique, incomplete, short soft hairy ring 2-3 mm above the corolla tube base; the corolla tube extends outward, shorter than the corolla limb, with a basal width of 2 mm, gradually widening upward, reaching 8 mm at the throat; the corolla limb is bilabiate, the upper lip is 12-15 mm long, falcate, upright, slightly notched at the apex, the lower lip is shorter than the upper lip, 3-lobed, the middle lobe is 5 mm long, 10 mm wide, with a 2-lobed apex, and the lobe margins have irregular teeth; the lateral lobes are short, rounded at the apex, and about 3 mm wide.

There are two fertile stamens extending to the upper lip; the filaments are 3.5-4 mm long, the connectives are 17-20 mm long, slightly covered with sparse short hairs at the joint in the middle, the upper arm is very elongated, 14-17 mm long, the lower arm is short and thickened, with sterile anthers united at the apex. The staminode is filiform, about 4 mm long. The style is long, up to 40 mm, with an unequally 2-lobed apex, the posterior lobe is extremely short, and the anterior lobe is filiform. The disc is slightly swollen at the front. The nutlets are black, oval, about 3.2 cm long, and 1.5 mm in diameter. The flowering period is from April to August, and the fruiting period follows flowering.

Main Variants

Salvia miltiorrhiza can be divided into two variants: the original form, f. miltiorrhiza, and the white-flowered variant, f. alba C. Y. Wu et H. W. Li in Addenda 582. The latter variant differs from the former by its white flowers and is found in Shandong, with the type specimen collected from Zhangqiu, Shandong.

Distribution and Habitat

Salvia miltiorrhiza is distributed across several regions in China, including Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Henan, and Jiangsu, and is also cultivated in Japan. It typically grows on slopes, under forest thickets, or by streams at altitudes of 120-1300 meters. The plant prefers a mild and humid climate, is cold-resistant, and highly adaptable. It thrives in sunny locations with deep, well-drained, sandy soil.

Community Types

Salvia miltiorrhiza primarily inhabits subalpine dark coniferous forests and meadow communities, and can also be found in mixed coniferous and broadleaf forests. Subalpine dark coniferous forests are predominantly composed of spruce, fir, and alpine pine. Meadow vegetation mainly consists of marshy meadows with distinct layers of vegetation, dominated by perennial herbaceous plants from the sedge and Artemisia families. Mixed coniferous and broadleaf forests are rich in tree species, often forming multi-layered forests, with hemlock, alpine pine, and yellow cedar as the dominant coniferous trees.

Growth Habits

Salvia miltiorrhiza is a perennial herbaceous plant with thickened, fleshy roots. Typically, one-year-old plants do not form tuberous roots; it takes several years for the root surface to turn reddish-brown, with older stems becoming yellow-brown or dark green. The plant reproduces through seeds, root division, and cuttings.

Main Uses

The root of Salvia miltiorrhiza is used medicinally and contains tanshinones, which are potent tonic emmenagogues that help resolve blood stasis, invigorate new blood production, promote blood circulation, and regulate menstruation. It is a key gynecological medicine, primarily used to treat uterine bleeding, irregular menstruation, blood stasis, abdominal pain, dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, and temple pain. It is also effective in treating coronary heart disease. Additionally, it is used to treat neurasthenia with insomnia, joint pain, anemia, mastitis, lymphadenitis, arthritis, boils, carbuncles, erysipelas, acute and chronic hepatitis, pyelonephritis, traumatic injuries, late-stage schistosomiasis with hepatosplenomegaly, and epilepsy. Externally, it can be used to treat poison ivy dermatitis.

According to the “Materia Medica of Southern Yunnan”, it is stated: “Danshen is slightly bitter and slightly cold in nature. It is red in color and enters the heart meridian. It nourishes the heart, generates blood, stabilizes the spirit, and treats forgetfulness, palpitations, and insomnia. It invigorates new blood, removes blood stasis, stabilizes the fetus, and eliminates dead fetuses. It can substitute for the blood-tonifying effect of Siwu Decoction.”

This plant has long been used as a medicinal Danshen variety in Yunnan and is included in the Yunnan Provincial Drug Standards of 1974 and 1996.