Gao Ben

Ligusticum sinense is a stout perennial aromatic herb in the Apiaceae family native to the cool montane regions of central and northern China, where it is cultivated for its medicinal rhizome. From a thick knotty branched rhizome and stout fibrous roots arises an erect ridged hollow stem 30-100 cm tall. The leaves are large, two- to three-times pinnately compound, with ovate, deeply incised and serrated leaflets and conspicuously sheathing petioles; foliage and rootstock emit a strong celery-like, slightly camphoraceous aroma owing to ligustilide and related phthalides. Small white flowers are borne in flat compound umbels 6-12 cm across at the stem tips and upper axils in summer, followed by oblong-ovate ribbed mericarps. The pale yellow-brown gnarled rhizome with its protruding nodal scars is the medicinal material Gao Ben.