Photo: (c) Wang.QG, CC BY (via iNaturalist)
Corydalis
Corydalis yanhusuo
Also known as Yan Hu Suo, Yanhusuo, Chinese Corydalis, Corydalis Tuber
Key benefits
✦Traditional uses
✦For centuries, apothecaries in the Zhejiang region have dug the small yellow tuber of Corydalis yanhusuo each early summer, prizing it as one of the great pain-easing roots of Chinese herbalism. In traditional Chinese medicine it was valued for moving what practitioners called stagnant blood and qi, the root cause said to lie behind the sharp, nagging aches of the body, and it was reached for after strains, injuries, and the deep tiredness that follows chronic discomfort. Herbalists traditionally vinegar-fried the raw tuber before use, a preparation believed to sharpen its pain-relieving power and guide it more directly to where it was needed. Over time it also found a quieter role in traditional formulas meant to settle a restless mind at day's end.
How to grow & use it
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“For the old root reached for when an ache won't quiet down and rest feels just out of reach.”
Traditional Chinese apothecaries almost never used the raw Corydalis tuber. Instead they stir-fried it in rice vinegar first, a step called cu zhi, which practitioners believed made the root's alkaloids more available and better able to reach the liver and blood.
Corydalis contains potent alkaloids that can cause drowsiness and lowered blood pressure, so it shouldn't be combined with sedatives, alcohol, or other CNS depressants. It may also interact with blood-thinning medication and is traditionally avoided during pregnancy and breastfeeding.