Yang Ti

Yang Ti is the dried root of Rumex japonicus Houtt. or related Rumex species (Polygonaceae), Japanese dock, a stout perennial herb of moist disturbed ground throughout China, Japan, and Korea reaching 50 to 150 cm tall. The plant bears a thick yellow-orange branched taproot, alternate lanceolate to oblong leaves with crisped margins, and tall terminal panicles of small greenish flowers that mature into three-winged red-brown achenes characteristic of the dock genus. The root, rich in anthraquinones such as chrysophanol, emodin, and physcion together with naphthalenes, is closely related to the Western herbal yellow dock (R. crispus). In traditional Chinese medicine the root is bitter and cold, entering the Heart, Liver, and Large Intestine channels; it clears heat, cools blood, stops bleeding, kills parasites, and moves the bowels, used for hematemesis, epistaxis, uterine bleeding, constipation with heat, and scabies and ringworm topically.