White Peony is native to Asia, but due to its widespread availability across the globe, it is often recognised by different names including, Garden Peony and Chinese Peony, or by its Chinese name Bai Shao, meaning White Peony. It is a perennial known for its large showy white, pink or crimson flowers.

The name White Peony is referencing the colour of the root (not the colour of the flower), and is the medicinal part of the plant historically used in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Its botanical name is after the mythical Greek figure Paeon, who was said to be a student of Aesculapius, the Greek god of medicine and healing. According to Greek mythology, Zeus saved Paeon from the wrath of Aesculapius by turning him into a peony flower.

Traditionally used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to:

• Nourish the live
• Regulate healthy menstrual cycle

Originating from the Far East, peonies appear strongly in the cultures of Chinese, Tibetan and Siberian folk medicine.

Native to East Asia, but due to its widespread availability across the globe, it is also recognised as Magnolia Vine or by its Chinese name, Wu Wei Zi, meaning five-flavoured fruit. This deciduous aromatic woody vine is also referred to as dioecious, meaning there are both male and female plants. Only the fruit (red berry) of Schisandra is used for medicinal purposes and has been described to possess all five basic flavours: salty, sweet, sour, sour, spicy and bitter.

Traditionally used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to:

• Reduce symptoms of stress
• Support healthy liver function
• Support healthy sleeping patterns.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, this herb is considered harmonising because of its ability to contain all five basic flavours.

Shatavari is native throughout Sri Lanka and India and now naturalised in other parts of the world.

With leaves like pine needles and small white flowers, this woody climber is a member of the common asparagus family Asparagaceae.

Its name Shatavari is derived from Sanskrit, shat means ‘100’ and vari meaning ‘root’ or ‘husband’, translating to “she who possesses a hundred husbands”. Implying its traditional use in Ayurvedic Medicine as an aphrodisiac.

Traditionally used in Ayurvedic Medicine as an adaptogen, a female tonic and to:

• Support healthy stress response in the body
• Increase virility (Vrishya)
• Promote healthy libido

Long used in Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India, it is often considered an aphrodisiac and a female tonic.

Native to India through to South East Asia this short, perennial shrub is now grown throughout the world.

Ashwagandha is often referred to as Indian ginseng even though botanically, ginseng and Ashwagandha are unrelated. In Sanskrit, ashwa means ‘horse’ and gandha means ‘smell’ which refers to the root of the plant having a horse-like smell.

Traditionally used in Ayurvedic Medicine as an adaptogen, a rasayana (tonic) and to:

• Maintain vitality
• Support a healthy stress response in the body
• Soothe and calm nerves
• Support refreshing sleep
• Relieve nervous tension
• Support the nervous system
• Assist with recovery from illness

Ashwagandha is a highly regarded plant used in Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India. It is traditionally used in Ayurvedic Medicine as a rejuvenative and restorative rasayana (tonic).

Native to China this aromatic perennial herb is now grown throughout the world. A relative to celery and a member of the parsley family, Dong Quai is a hardy plant that likes to grow in cold, damp and high-altitude regions.

Also known as ‘female ginseng’ in the Orient, Dong Quai root is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to help support female health.

Used in Traditional Chinese Medicine as a blood tonic and to:

• Activate and replenish blood
• Regulate healthy menstrual cycle
• Relieve menstruation pain

A popular herb used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dong Quai was traditionally used as a blood tonic to help invigorate and replenish blood. When used in Traditional Chinese Medicine different parts of the root are used for different ailments.

Believed to have originated in southeast Asia, Ginger is a tropical loving plant which its root is grown worldwide for culinary and medicinal purposes.

The botanical name Zingiber originates from the Greek word zingiberis, which was derived from the Sanskrit word shringavera, meaning ‘shaped like a deer’s antler’, an acknowledgment to the shape of the root. Officinale is traditionally used to refer to a plant with health and medicinal properties that was sold in the apothecary.

Traditionally used in Western Herbal Medicine to:

• Relieve symptoms of indigestion
• Relieve digestive discomfort and abdominal bloating
• Reduce abdominal and digestive spasms

Obtained by the Greeks and Romans from Arab traders, it was one of the first oriental spices to arrive in Europe.

Native to the Mediterranean through to Asia, and now grown throughout the world, this small flowering shrub is also referred to as Chasteberry, Chaste Tree, Cloister Pepper and Monk’s Pepper.

Its botanical name vitex, is derived from the Latin word vieo meaning to ‘weave’, referring to the ancient use of its bark and twigs in basketry. Agnus-castus meaning ‘chaste lamb’ refers to an old belief around chastity.

The dried fruit (berry) is used to:

• Relieve symptoms of premenstrual tension
• Help reduce occurrence of premenstrual tension symptoms
• Relieve breast tenderness associated with premenstrual tension
• Maintain healthy menstrual cycle
• Reduce menstrual cycle irregularity
• Support healthy female hormonal balance
• Relieve symptoms of menopause

It is believed that monks would eat the berries and leaves of this tree to help promote chastity, hence the name variations Monk’s Pepper, Chaste Tree and Chasteberry.