Taiga root bristly

Bush or shrub-like plant up to 7 m high with needle-like spines on stems, shoots and leaves up to 10 cm long. Small, umbellate flowers and black berries up to 1 cm in size, which usually contain 5 flattened seeds arranged in a star shape. The bristly taiga root, also known as Eleutherococcus senticosus, taiga root or Siberian ginseng, is a plant from the ivy family native to Siberia, the Amur region, Sakhalin Island, Japan, North Korea and the north-eastern People's Republic of China.

The dried rhizomes and roots, Eleutherococci radix, are used phytotherapeutically.

The taiga root is a deciduous shrub that reaches growth heights of 2 to 7 m. It has only a few branches, which are covered with small spines. The leaves are on long stems and are oval in shape. The bristly taiga root forms umbelliferous inflorescences, with small, hermaphroditic and yellow flowers. The fruits of the shrub are blue to black in colour.

Eleutherococcus senticosus is the parent plant of Eleutherococci radix

1. Wenigmann M.(2017) Phytotherapie Arzneidrogen Phytopharmaka Anwendung. Urban & Fischer: 5.108 Stonecrop (Meliloti herba) p 202-203
2. https://arzneipflanzenlexikon.info/taiga-root.php
3. https://www.awl.ch/heilpflanzen/eleutherococcus_senticosus/taigawurzel.htm