Plant · P-895

Codonopsis

Codonopsis pilosula

Codonopsis, also called dang shen or poor man's ginseng, is a herbaceous perennial vine grown for a thick, aromatic root used across East Asia as a tonic food and adaptogenic herb, often substituted for true ginseng in cooking and medicine. It twines to about 1.7 metres given a support, prefers full sun to light shade and a moist, well-drained soil, and its tender spring shoots are frost-sensitive and highly attractive to slugs, so young growth needs a sheltered start. The root, harvested from plants at least three years old, contains saponins, triterpenes and polysaccharides and is traditionally taken to build energy, strengthen digestion, ease breathlessness and support recovery after illness; it can be eaten directly, most often simmered with rice into a glutinous tonic dish. It has no reported toxicity in the scientific literature, and once established it resents being moved, so it is best planted in its permanent position while still small.