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Photo of dried tree peony bark, pale red-brown curled strips

Tree Peony Bark

牡丹皮 · Mǔ Dān Pí

Cools hot flashes and calms inflamed skin breakouts

Properties

CoolingCooling botanicalBitter, Pungent

What it does

Tree peony bark cools hot flashes, night sweats, and the angry red breakouts that come with internal heat. In TCM, it does two jobs at once: it pulls heat out of the blood and gets stuck blood moving again. That makes it useful for menstrual cramps with clotting, sudden flushing, and stubborn skin inflammation. Research has tracked its compound paeonol for anti-inflammatory effects.

How to take it

Drink

Decoct 6–12g of dried tree peony bark in water for 25 minutes. Drink 1 cup, 1–2x daily. Almost always taken in formula with other heat-clearing or blood-moving herbs.

Look for it in Liu Wei Di Huang Wan or Dan Zhi Xiao Yao San

Safety

  • Skip during pregnancy. It's a blood-mover and can be unsafe
  • Skip during heavy menstrual bleeding. It can make flow stronger
  • May interact with blood thinners like warfarin or aspirin
  • Talk to your doctor before starting medicinal use, especially if you take medication

Formulas it's in

Cinnamon Twig & Poria

桂枝茯苓丸 · guì zhī fú líng wán

A classical TCM formula for period pain and blood stagnation in the lower abdomen.

Eight-Flavor Rehmannia

知柏地黃丸 · zhī bǎi dì huáng wán

Six-Ingredient Rehmannia with two added cooling herbs for internal heat, night sweats, and hot flashes from yin deficiency.

Modified Free & Easy Wanderer

加味逍遙散 · jiā wèi xiāo yáo sǎn

The variant of Free and Easy Wanderer for when liver tension has tipped into irritability and heat.

Six-Ingredient Rehmannia

六味地黃丸 · liù wèi dì huáng wán

Probably the most-prescribed TCM formula in the world. The classical Kidney yin tonic.

Warm the Menses

溫經湯 · wēn jīng tāng

A TCM formula for cold in the uterus with irregular periods, lower belly chill, and a mix of cold and heat signs.

Where it comes from

Tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) is China's traditional 'king of flowers,' grown for its showy blooms since the Tang Dynasty. The bark of the root, harvested in autumn from 3-to-5-year-old plants, is the medicinal part. It's been in continuous TCM use for over 1,500 years and shows up in major classical formulas like Liu Wei Di Huang Wan. The city of Luoyang in Henan still hosts an annual tree peony festival every April.