Tianma

Gastrodia elata

Also known as Gastrodia, Chinese Gastrodia, Heaven's Hemp Tuber, Tian Ma, Chunma (winter tianma)

At a glance

Family

Orchidaceae (the orchid family)

Type

Perennial, leafless, mycoheterotrophic orchid

Parts used

Underground tuber (rhizome)

Size

Flower stalk 1 to 3 feet tall; tuber potato-sized, 2 to 6 inches long

Bloom

Late spring to early summer, small pale yellow-brown flowers on a bare stalk

Habitat

Shaded, humus-rich floors of mixed and broadleaf forests across China, Japan, and Korea, from lowland woods up into mountain forest, always in the company of a particular wood-rotting fungus

Acquisition

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Key benefits

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Traditionally eases head tension

Calms dizziness and vertigo

Supports restful sleep

Traditionally soothes muscle tremor

Traditional uses

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Tianma has been treasured in Chinese medicine for over two thousand years, first recorded in the ancient Divine Farmer's Classic and named for the idea that it settles what the old physicians called internal wind, the trembling, spinning, headachy imbalance behind dizziness and convulsive complaint. Generations of practitioners in China, Korea, and Japan turned to the dried tuber for headaches, vertigo, numbness in the limbs, and the restlessness that keeps a person from sleep. It also found its way into the kitchen, simmered into tonic soups with fish head or chicken, a dish still served in parts of China as both nourishment and medicine at once. Because the plant is so strange, a leafless orchid that never once turns green, herbalists have long regarded it as a singular, almost otherworldly root.

How to grow & use it

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Pairs well with

✦Poria (Fu Ling)
✦Uncaria (Gou Teng)
✦Ligusticum (Chuan Xiong)

Substitutes

✦Uncaria rhynchophylla (Gou Teng)
✦Ligusticum wallichii root

Choose it when

“When the head grows heavy and the ground won't quite hold still, tianma has long been the root that steadies the storm within.”

Did you know?

Gastrodia elata has no leaves and no chlorophyll at all. It spends most of its life as a bare tuber underground, surviving entirely by tapping into the honey fungus Armillaria mellea for nourishment, then sends up a single leafless flower stalk once a year before vanishing back below the soil.

Safety

Gastrodia elata is not known to be toxic at traditional culinary or medicinal doses, but it does have a traditional reputation for sedative, calming effects, so it may add to the drowsiness caused by sleep aids, sedatives, or anti-anxiety medications. Safety data for pregnancy and breastfeeding is insufficient, so it is best avoided during those times. People taking blood pressure medication or preparing for surgery should be cautious, since tianma has traditionally been associated with effects on blood pressure and central nervous system activity. Wild populations of Gastrodia elata are increasingly scarce and protected in parts of China, so foraging is discouraged; look instead for cultivated, reputably sourced dried tuber. As always, speak with a qualified healthcare provider or herbalist before using tianma, especially if pregnant, nursing, or taking other medications.