Potentilla discolor
StarPotentilla discolor
Synonyms: Potentilla formosana, Potentilla discolor var. formosana
Safety at a glance
No rule in our tables for this herb: pregnancy, breastfeeding, incompatible pairs (十八反 / 十九畏), herb–drug, dose ceiling. This is not a safety clearance.
Not graded — No toxicity grade is recorded. Most herbs in the catalogue carry none.
Cautions & contraindications
- Diabetes
- Toxic — professional use only
Western Herbalism Properties
Botanical Description
Potentilla discolor, the silverweed cinquefoil, is a small perennial herb of the Rosaceae widespread across China, Korea, Japan and the Russian Far East. It grows 10–40 cm tall from a stout, woody, often tuberous-thickened rootstock. The leaves are pinnately compound with 5–9 oblong leaflets that are dark green above and conspicuously white-tomentose beneath, giving the plant its specific epithet ("two-coloured"). Flowering stems bear loose terminal cymes of bright yellow, five-petalled flowers about 1–1.5 cm across in late spring and summer. Fruits are dry achenes enclosed by the persistent calyx. It grows on sunny grassy slopes, dry meadows, open woodland margins and field edges from lowland to montane elevations. In China the dried whole plant is the recognised herbal drug known as fan bai cao.
Active Constituents
Tormentic acid
Ursane-type pentacyclic triterpenoid acidConcentration: One of the triterpenes identified as a principal component of the standardised extract used in the anti-diabetic work
Inhibits glycogen phosphorylase with an IC50 of 90.6 micromolar in vitro. Glycogen phosphorylase inhibition suppresses hepatic glycogenolysis, and the authors of the isolation study propose it as one molecular route by which the extract lowers blood glucose. Note the potency: a 90 micromolar IC50 is modest, and no measurement of plasma tormentic acid after an oral dose of the herb has been published.
Asiatic acid
Ursane-type pentacyclic triterpenoid acidConcentration: Identified among the triterpene components of the standardised extract
The most potent of the three glycogen phosphorylase inhibitors reported from this extract, with an IC50 of 65.4 micromolar. Better known from Centella asiatica, where it is the marker compound, so its presence here is of no value for identity confirmation.
Potengriffioside A
Triterpenoid glycosideConcentration: Identified among the triterpene components of the standardised extract
Inhibits glycogen phosphorylase with an IC50 of 85.9 micromolar. Unlike tormentic and asiatic acid it is largely restricted to Potentilla, which makes it the more useful of the three as a chemotaxonomic marker for this genus.
Quercitrin (quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside)
Flavonol glycosideConcentration: One of six major compounds identified by LC-MS/MS in the water extract of the herb
Present in the water extract, which matters because a decoction is how the drug is actually taken. Flavonol glycosides of this type contribute the antioxidant activity that dominates the in vitro literature on this herb, and are hydrolysed to quercetin by gut microbiota before absorption.
Quercetin 3-O-beta-D-glucuronide
Flavonol glycoside (glucuronide)Concentration: One of six major compounds identified by LC-MS/MS in the water extract
A pre-conjugated flavonol, unusual in being present in the plant already in the glucuronide form that mammalian metabolism would otherwise produce. It is a genuine constituent of the decoction rather than an artefact of extraction.
Scutellarin
Flavone glucuronideConcentration: One of six major compounds identified by LC-MS/MS in the water extract
Better known as the active of Erigeron breviscapus, where it is given intravenously for cerebral ischaemia. Its presence in the water extract of this herb is worth flagging because scutellarin has documented vascular and platelet effects of its own, and because it is another compound whose occurrence across unrelated drugs makes it useless as an identity marker.
Apigenin 7-O-beta-D-glucoside
Flavone glycosideConcentration: One of six major compounds identified by LC-MS/MS in the water extract
A common flavone glucoside contributing to the anti-inflammatory activity of the decoction. It is deglycosylated to apigenin in the gut before absorption.
Kaempferol 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (astragalin)
Flavonol glycosideConcentration: One of six major compounds identified by LC-MS/MS in the water extract
The kaempferol counterpart of the quercetin glycosides above, and part of the same flavonol pool that the antioxidant assays are measuring.
Epicatechin
Flavan-3-olConcentration: One of six major compounds identified by LC-MS/MS in the water extract; the herb is also tannin-rich
The monomer of the condensed tannins that give this Rosaceae herb its astringency, and the chemical basis for its classical use in dysentery and for bleeding rather than for diabetes. Tannin content is also the reason to separate this herb from mineral and alkaloid drugs in a decoction, since tannins precipitate both.
Phenolic acid and flavonoid fraction of the whole herb
Mixed polyphenol fraction (phenolic acids and flavonoids)Concentration: Crude 80 percent ethanol extract 20.40 mg gallic acid equivalents per gram of dry herb, rising to 353.65 mg GAE per gram after resin purification; 35 compounds tentatively identified, 12 phenolic acids and 23 flavonoids, 29 of them new to this species
The purified fraction scavenged DPPH and ABTS radicals more strongly than the synthetic antioxidant BHT, with IC50 values of 0.030 and 0.059 mg/ml, and inhibited alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase with IC50 values of 0.966 and 2.431 mg/ml. The gap between those two sets of numbers is the useful information: the antioxidant activity is potent at microgram concentrations while the enzyme inhibition needs milligram-per-millilitre concentrations that a decoction is unlikely to reach in the gut lumen for long.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Insulin, sulfonylureas, metformin and other glucose-lowering drugs
This is the interaction that matters for this herb, because lowering blood glucose is precisely what people take it for. A systematic review and meta-analysis pooling 32 animal studies and 574 animals found extracts of this herb lowered fasting blood glucose with a standardised mean difference of -3.56 (95 percent CI -4.40 to -2.72) and raised the insulin sensitivity index by 2.51 (95 percent CI 1.10 to 3.92), alongside improvements in cholesterol, superoxide dismutase and catalase. Mechanistic work in diabetic mice shows suppression of the gluconeogenic enzymes PEPCK and glucose-6-phosphatase, promotion of glycogen synthesis, and activation of Akt and AMPK, with falls in fasting glucose and HbA1c. One reassuring detail from the isolation study: the standardised extract had little effect on glucose in normal mice while lowering it dose-dependently in diabetic mice, which suggests the effect is largely glucose-dependent. That reduces but does not remove the risk when it is combined with an insulin secretagogue or insulin itself.
Clinical note: Do not add this herb silently to an established diabetes regimen. Ask the patient to monitor capillary glucose more often for the first two to four weeks, review the sulfonylurea or insulin dose if readings fall, and make sure the prescribing physician knows the herb is being taken so a falling HbA1c is not misread as improved control on drug alone.
Bai Tou Weng (Radix Pulsatillae, Pulsatilla chinensis), Wei Ling Cai (Herba Potentillae Chinensis, Potentilla chinensis) and Zi Cao (Radix Arnebiae)
Fan Bai Cao sits at the centre of a documented four-way identity problem. Herba Potentillae Discoloris (Fan Bai Cao, this herb), Herba Potentillae Chinensis (Wei Ling Cai, Potentilla chinensis), Radix Pulsatillae (Bai Tou Weng, Pulsatilla chinensis) and Radix Arnebiae (Zi Cao) share similar morphological characters and involve multiple species each, and a 2022 accredited-laboratory study built an ITS2 DNA barcoding workflow specifically because morphology could not separate them reliably. A separate 2022 study developed a Dde I restriction digest for the single purpose of telling Pulsatilla chinensis and Potentilla discolor apart. The confusion is compounded in Chinese usage because Bai Tou Weng is itself a regional folk synonym for this herb. The consequences are not cosmetic: Pulsatilla chinensis is a saponin-rich drug used for amoebic and bacillary dysentery with its own irritant toxicity, and Arnebia contains pyrrolizidine-related shikonin chemistry. They cannot stand in for one another.
Clinical note: Order and dispense by the Latin drug name and the binomial, never by Bai Tou Weng or by appearance. If a supplier's material for any of these four cannot be traced to a species, require a DNA barcode or reject it. The existing corpus record for Wei Ling Cai carries Radix Potentillae Discoloris in its Latin name, which is precisely the conflation this entry exists to undo.
Aconite-containing multi-herb formulas in which this herb appears, for example Xiaozhong Jiuwei Powder
Potentilla discolor Bunge is one of the nine ingredients of Xiaozhong Jiuwei Powder, a Mongolian medicine formula that also contains Aconitum kusnezoffii Rchb. A 2025 report describes a patient who developed refractory ventricular fibrillation after improper use of the formula and died a week later despite intensive treatment. UPLC-Q-Orbitrap-HRMS profiling of the powder identified 292 compounds and located the cardiotoxicity in the diester-diterpenoid alkaloids aconitine, mesaconitine and hypaconitine, consistent with the Aconitum kusnezoffii in the formulation. This entry exists so that the fatality is attributed correctly: nothing in it implicates Fan Bai Cao, and the practitioner's action point concerns the aconite, not this herb.
Clinical note: Where this herb appears in a proprietary Mongolian or Tibetan powder, establish the whole ingredient list before dispensing and check for aconite. Aconite-containing formulas need correct processing, correct dosing and no self-medication; if a patient presents with paraesthesia, nausea and arrhythmia after such a formula, treat it as aconite poisoning.
Acarbose and other alpha-glucosidase inhibitors
A purified phenolic fraction of the herb inhibited alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase with IC50 values of 0.966 and 2.431 mg/ml. Those are milligram-per-millilitre concentrations, far above what a decoction of 15 to 30 g would sustain in the gut lumen, and the fraction tested was a resin-purified concentrate rather than the herb. Recorded here mainly so that the frequently repeated claim that this herb is an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor is seen with its numbers attached.
Clinical note: No dose change is warranted. If gastrointestinal symptoms increase when the herb is added to acarbose, that is more likely the herb's tannin content than enzyme inhibition.
Mineral drugs, alkaloidal drugs and iron supplements taken in the same decoction
This is a tannin-rich Rosaceae herb, with epicatechin among its six principal water-extract constituents and a total phenolic content of about 20 mg gallic acid equivalents per gram of dry herb in crude extract. Condensed tannins complex with alkaloids, with proteins and with polyvalent metal cations, which is a general and well-established chemical property rather than a finding about this species specifically.
Clinical note: Separate oral iron by two hours. Where the formula also contains an alkaloid-bearing drug, expect some loss and do not increase the tannin-rich herb to compensate.
Dosage Calculator
⚖ Dosage Calculator
A weight-based mathematical estimate for Potentilla discolor. Not a prescription.
Evidence Tier
1 systematic review · 6 studies on recordRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Randomized controlled trial
0
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
4
0 verified · 4 unverified
Show 4 studies
- Anti-diabetic effect of standardized extract of Potentilla discolor Bunge and identification of its active components
- Water Extract of Potentilla discolor Bunge Improves Hepatic Glucose Homeostasis by Regulating Gluconeogenesis and Glycogen Synthesis in High-Fat Diet and Streptozotocin-Induced Type 2 Diabetic Mice
- Antioxidant, antidiabetic and identification of phenolic constituents from Potentilla discolor Bge.
- Enhancing Testing Laboratory Engagement in Plant DNA Barcoding through a Routine Workflow—A Case Study on Chinese Materia Medica (CMM)
Other / unclassified
1
0 verified · 1 unverified
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Effects of potentilla discolor bunge extracts on oxidative stress and glycolipid metabolism in animal models of diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis
A PRISMA 2020 systematic review with meta-analysis, but of animal studies, not human ones: 32 studies and 574 animals, appraised with SYRCLE's risk of bias tool. Pooled extracts lowered fasting blood glucose (SMD -3.56, 95 percent CI -4.40 to -2.72) and total cholesterol (SMD -2.18, 95 percent CI -2.89 to -1.46), and raised the insulin sensitivity index (SMD 2.51, 95 percent CI 1.10 to 3.92), HDL cholesterol, superoxide dismutase and catalase. The authors flag significant heterogeneity, say the findings should be read with caution, and call for well-designed trials to establish which components are responsible. This is the strongest evidence that exists for this herb and it is entirely preclinical.
Anti-diabetic effect of standardized extract of Potentilla discolor Bunge and identification of its active components
The paper that identified the active chemistry. In alloxan-diabetic mice the standardised extract lowered glucose dose-dependently and improved glucose disposal on tolerance testing, while having little effect on glucose in normal mice. The major components were triterpenes and flavonoids, and tormentic acid, asiatic acid and potengriffioside A inhibited glycogen phosphorylase in vitro with IC50 values of 90.6, 65.4 and 85.9 micromolar. The glucose-dependence in normal versus diabetic animals is the clinically useful observation.
Water Extract of Potentilla discolor Bunge Improves Hepatic Glucose Homeostasis by Regulating Gluconeogenesis and Glycogen Synthesis in High-Fat Diet and Streptozotocin-Induced Type 2 Diabetic Mice
Worth citing because it studies the water extract, which is what a decoction delivers, and characterises it: LC-MS/MS identified apigenin-7-O-beta-D-glucoside, epicatechin, quercetin 3-O-beta-D-glucuronide, kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, scutellarin and quercitrin as the six major compounds. Diabetic mice given 400 mg/kg daily for eight weeks had lower fasting glucose and HbA1c, higher insulin, and better glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and lipid profiles, with suppression of hepatic PEPCK and glucose-6-phosphatase, increased liver glycogen, and activation of Akt and AMPK.
Antioxidant, antidiabetic and identification of phenolic constituents from Potentilla discolor Bge.
An 80 percent ethanol crude phenolic extract contained 20.40 mg gallic acid equivalents per gram of dry herb, rising to 353.65 after macroporous resin purification. The purified fraction outperformed BHT on DPPH and ABTS scavenging with IC50 values of 0.030 and 0.059 mg/ml, and inhibited alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase at 0.966 and 2.431 mg/ml. UPLC-TOF-MS/MS tentatively identified 35 compounds, 12 phenolic acids and 23 flavonoids, 29 of them reported from this species for the first time.
Enhancing Testing Laboratory Engagement in Plant DNA Barcoding through a Routine Workflow—A Case Study on Chinese Materia Medica (CMM)
The identity study for this drug. An accredited testing laboratory built an ITS2 barcoding workflow with a quality control plan to solve a real-life problem: separating Herba Potentillae Chinensis (Wei Ling Cai), Herba Potentillae Discoloris (Fan Bai Cao), Radix Pulsatillae (Bai Tou Weng) and Radix Arnebiae (Zi Cao), four drugs that share morphological characters and each involve multiple species. The barcode separated all four. That morphology alone could not is the practical finding.
A fatal intractable ventricular fibrillation triggered by improper use of Xiaozhong Jiuwei Powder: integrated LC-MS chemical profiling unveils the cardiotoxic culprits
A single fatal case report with analytical chemical profiling, not a controlled study of any kind, included for correct attribution rather than as evidence about this herb. A patient developed refractory ventricular fibrillation after improper use of Xiaozhong Jiuwei Powder, a Mongolian medicine formula containing Potentilla discolor Bunge among its nine ingredients, and died a week later. UPLC-Q-Orbitrap-HRMS identified 292 compounds and attributed the cardiotoxicity to the diester-diterpenoid alkaloids aconitine, mesaconitine and hypaconitine, consistent with the Aconitum kusnezoffii in the formula. Nothing implicates Potentilla discolor.
Historical Texts
Jiu Huang Ben Cao (Famine Relief Herbal), Zhu Su, Prince of Zhou
Ming dynasty, 1406Ben Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of Materia Medica), Li Shizhen
Ming dynasty, 1596Ben Cao Yuan Shi (Origins of Materia Medica), Li Zhongli
Ming dynasty, 1612Cao Mu Bian Fang (Convenient Formulas of Herbs and Trees)
Qing dynasty, 1870Fujian Min Jian Cao Yao (Fujian Folk Herbal Medicines)
Modern Chinese provincial herbal, 1958Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China, Potentillae Discoloris Herba (Fan Bai Cao)
Current national standard, 2015 and 2020 editionsReferences
- Zhang J, Wang Y, Yin Z, Liu J, Fan H, Zhang D, Li Y, Song X. Botany, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, and Application of Potentilla discolor: A Systematic Review . Chemistry & Biodiversity (2026) [DOI]
- Shen T, Xie JC, He YL, Yang HY. A review of Potentilla discolor Bunge: ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacology . Advances in Traditional Medicine (2025) [DOI]
- Ji L, Li Q, He Y, Zhang X, Zhou Z, Gao Y, Fang M, Yu Z, Rodrigues RM, Gao Y, Li M. Therapeutic potential of traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of NAFLD: A promising drug Potentilla discolor Bunge . Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B (2022) [DOI]
- Wang E, Zhang S, Sun D, Lin G, Wang T. Identifying Pulsatilla Chinesis (Bunge) Regel, and Potentilla Discolor Bunge from Each Other using Restrictive Enzyme Dde I . Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Agricultural and Biological Sciences (2022) [DOI]
- Zhang X, Kang Y, Li X, Huang Y, Qi R, Han Y, Cai R, Gao Y, Qi Y. Potentilla discolor ameliorates LPS-induced inflammatory responses through suppressing NF-κB and AP-1 pathways . Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy (2021) [DOI]
- Wang W, Ma XJ, Su YF, Gao ZJ, Qin T, Gao B, Guo DA. Two new neolignans and one new benzyl benzoate glycoside from Potentilla discolor . Phytochemistry Letters (2020) [DOI]
- Li Y, Wang J, Xu Y, Meng Q, Wu M, Su Y, Miao Y, Wang Y. The water extract of Potentilla discolor Bunge (PDW) ameliorates high-sugar diet-induced type II diabetes model in Drosophila melanogaster via JAK/STAT signaling . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2023) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
📝 Notes
Public notes from the community and your own private notes on Potentilla discolor.
No notes yet.