At Phoenix, we are proud to have been supporting Kew Botanical Gardens for many years now as they strive to promote a world where plants and fungi are understood, valued and conserved.
Since 1998, Christine Leon has been heading up the research project; ‘Chinese Medicinal Plants and Their Materia Medica’. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is practised in over 100 countries, making TCM’s rapidly growing global market in dried medicinal herbs worth about 48 billion US dollars. Because of this, some productions areas in China can no longer meet rising demand, meaning herbal identification and quality is comprised – sometimes with serious health consequences.
Christine, along with the help of the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development in Beijing and Lin Yu-Lin, has dedicated many years to the testing of herbal specimens. The project has sought to address the issues by using Kew’s world-class plant identification resources to create a Chinese Medicinal Plant Authentication Resource, which allows for extensive testing and identification.
We are fortunate enough to work very closely with Kew Gardens and have supplied over 200 herbal specimens of dry herbs and concentrated granule samples. The objectives of the research are to enhance the quality of identification of herbs through the provision of resources, such as herbal monographs and identification guides and to research and improve knowledge of Chinese herbal materia medica.
After almost 20 years dedicated to the project, Christine, with the help of Lin Yu-Lin has published her first book; ‘Chinese Medicinal Plants, Herbal Drugs and Substitute – An Identification Guide’. The book is a comprehensive guide to the identification of over 200 herbs and the source in which they come from, showcasing the information the team has gathered from years of testing, researching and travelling around China.
We would like to first congratulate Christine for her tireless efforts and the publishing of such an extensive and informative publication. We would also like the thank Christine and her team, for their continuing work which benefits the whole TCM community and helps highlight authentic and quality herbs, ensuring that patients receive safe and effective treatment. We believe that ‘Chinese Medicinal Plants, Herbal Drugs and Substitutes’ will educate herbalists on the different species and properties of over 200 herbs, benefiting their practice and their patients. We recommend all herbalists own this book to understand the importance of DaoDi herbs, the complications with materia medica and how to identify different species and characteristics.
Once again, congratulations and thank you, Christine, we hope your research continues to benefit many people.
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