Salvia miltiorrhiza seeds Red Sage Herb Medicinal Herbal

LATIN NAME: SALVIA MILTIORRHIZA

COMMON NAME: Red Sage, Danshen, Tan Shen

The red sage is a bright and handsome herb of the warm hills, and its scarlet flowers and its long history in the traditions of China have made it one of the most famous of the herbs of the region. It grows as a clump-forming perennial, reaching up to a metre or more, with upright, square, branching stems bearing opposite, oval, pointed, toothed, green leaves, often with a reddish tinge, and, from the late spring into the summer, tall, whorled spikes of many small, scarlet, two-lipped flowers, followed by the small, brown nutlets. It is a species of the flowering herb in the mint family, native to the warm hills of China, while it is grown for its scarlet flowers and its long history of use in the traditional ways of the region, and it is known as the red sage.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The red sage has a real and distinguished place in research. It has been studied in the chemistry of natural products and the traditional use, since the root of the red sage has a very long history of use in the traditional medicine of China, and the researchers have examined the root and its constituents, while the traditional uses of the plant have drawn attention in the international pharmaceutical and botanical press, and the study of the red sage and its chemistry has been of continuing interest across the world, and the plant is best appreciated as a subject of study and of the tradition rather than a casual remedy. The plant has also been studied in botany and ecology, since it is a native of the warm hills of China, and its relationships, its distribution and its role in the wild have been examined, while the ecology of the hillside herbs has been of continuing interest, and the scarlet, two-lipped flowers of the red sage have been of interest to the botanists. The species has also been studied in horticulture, since it is a bright and handsome herb of the garden, and the researchers have examined its growth and its cultivation, while the tall, whorled spikes of the scarlet flowers have made it a treasured plant of the summer border. For a plant of such bright and long value, the red sage has a rich and distinguished record of research.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

To grow the Red Sage from seed, ecologically, the red sage is a generous plant of the garden. Its tall, whorled spikes of many small, scarlet, two-lipped flowers feed the bees, the hummingbirds and the many insects through the summer, and its leafy clumps give a cover to the small creatures, while it is one of the brightest of the herbs of the border. Its economic value is real: the red sage is prized for its root and its very long history of use in the traditional medicine of China, and its value has drawn attention in the international pharmaceutical and botanical press, while the plant is also grown for its scarlet flowers, and it is a bright and treasured herb of the garden. To raise the red sage, sow the seeds in pots of moist, free-draining compost in a bright, airy spot, keep them lightly watered, and grow the little herbs on in the sun.

sow the seeds in pots of moist, free-draining compost in a bright, airy spot, keep the young red sage lightly watered, and grow the little herbs on in the sun.

LATIN NAME: Salvia miltiorrhiza

COMMON NAME: Danshen, Red Sage

Danshen is a handsome, quietly impressive herb with a striking secret beneath the soil. It grows as a clump-forming perennial, with square stems and pairs of aromatic, deeply veined leaves, and in summer it sends up tall spikes of small, two-lipped flowers in a deep blue-violet, very attractive to bees. The plant looks like a fine garden sage, and it is a close relative of the culinary sages. But below ground it builds a thick, fleshy root that is bright red on the outside, and it is this red root, dried and used in traditional medicine, that has made danshen one of the most important herbs in East Asian medicine.

Danshen belongs to the mint family, Lamiaceae, and it is native to the grasslands and open slopes of China, where it has been cultivated for thousands of years. Its name means red sage, after the colour of its root, and it is a hardy, sun-loving plant that thrives in well-drained soil.

Positive & Encouraging Seed Germination Guide

Growing danshen from seed is easy and rewarding. The small seeds germinate readily in warm, light conditions, usually within one to three weeks. Sow them in spring on the surface of a tray of free-draining seed compost, press them in gently, and keep them in a bright spot, lightly watered, since the seeds need light to germinate. Once the seedlings have a few leaves, pot them on and grow them on in full sun before planting out in well-drained soil. Danshen is hardy, drought-tolerant and happy in poor soil, so it asks for little once established. In a couple of seasons you will have clumps of blue-violet flowers and, beneath them, the aromatic red roots that have been valued for centuries.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

Danshen is one of the most researched herbs in Chinese medicine. Its red roots contain two major groups of active compounds, the lipophilic tanshinones and the hydrophilic salvianolic acids, and these have been studied extensively for their effects on the heart and circulation, including research into their use in treating cardiovascular disease. The plant has been the subject of modern drug-development studies, and researchers have examined how to cultivate and process it for consistent medicinal quality, including work on cell culture and biotechnology to produce its active compounds. For a herb that has been used for over two thousand years, danshen has an exceptionally rich and modern record of research.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

Ecologically, danshen is a valuable garden plant. Its blue-violet flowers feed bees and other pollinators through the summer, and it thrives in sunny, dry, well-drained spots where many plants struggle, making it useful in drought-tolerant planting.

Its economic value is considerable. The dried roots are a major commodity in traditional medicine, used in countless formulas for heart and circulatory health, and they support a large herbal industry in China and beyond. In the garden, it is also an attractive, easy perennial. For a grower, danshen is a valuable medicinal crop with a steady and growing market, and for a gardener it is a beautiful, useful herb that combines flowers, fragrance and a long tradition of healing.

The outside of the taproot of Danshen, which is the part used in medicine, is red. Danshen is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for treating chronic renal

failure and to prevent and treat heart conditions and strokes. The root (Radix Salvia miltiorrhiza) is used with Kudzu root (Radix Puerariae

lobata) for the treatment of coronary heart disease in Chinese medicine.Danshen is

one of five ingredients in tangzhiqing (TZQ) used In traditional Chinese medicine

for treating diabetes. In studies with mice and in vitro studies,

Salvia miltiorrhiza has been widely used in China and, to a lesser extent, in Japan, the United States, and other European countries for the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In China, the specific clinical use is angina pectoris, hyperlipidemia, and acute ischemic stroke.