Recommended Reading
The Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm by peg schafer
A Cultivator's Guide to Small-Scale Organic Herb Production
by Peg Schafer, Contributions by Sean Fannin, Forweard by Steven Foster
A comprehensive cultivation guide to growing organic Chinese medicinal herbs, for serious home gardeners and professional growers. Read a detailed review of the book on Mother Earth News here.
Chinese Herb Cultivation:
Daodi Practices for Growing & Processing Chinese Herbs
Edited by Guo Lan-ping, Huang Lu-qi and Xie Xiao-liang / Special Editor to the English Edition: Zhang Yan / Translated and Annotated by Thomas Avery Garran
Thomas Avery Garran lived in China for over a decade, studying the language, TCM and the medicinal herb trade. This book is a translation of part of a national survey of Chinese medicinal materials conducted by the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, and the most inclusive resource for Chinese cultivation research and daodi descriptions. This book is an important resource for attempting to match American farming locations with the ideal growing conditions for each herb.
Read a book review by Pam Sherman here.
HERBAL EMISSARIES: BRINGING CHINESE HERBS TO THE WEST
A Guide to Gardening, Herbal Wisdom, and Well-Being
by Steven Foster and Yue Chongxi
Published in 1992, this volume was possibly the first English-language book that tied the medicinal substances learned by TCM practitioners with the plants and their cultivation. Each of the 44 monographs include the taste and character of the herb, along with history, cultivation tips, uses, dosages – a wealth of information on each plant. This book should never be forgotten.
Chinese Medicinal Identification: An Illustrated Approach
by Zhongzhen Zhao & Hubiao Chen
At last, a specialized text dedicated to herbal quality assessment!
Featuring:
428 commonly used Chinese medicinals
Over 1000 high-resolution images of medicinal materials and decoction pieces
Over 400 photos dedicated to botanical, zoological, and mineral sources
Preservation of nearly 200 traditional technical terms used in macroscopic identification
CHINESE MEDICINAL PLANTS,HERBAL DRUGS AND SUBSTITUTES
by Christine Leon and Lin Yu-Lin
The product of fifteen years of collecting activity throughout China, this book offers the first comprehensive, botanically authoritative, and practical illustrated identification guide to Chinese medicinal plants and drugs and their substitutes. The herbal drugs included in the book are officially recognized in the Chinese pharmacopoeia, with an eye toward drugs that are common in international trade, as well as those recognized by Western medical associations. The book is laid out to allow quick and easy cross-referencing of official and substitute species and will be ideal for those without botanical information training. A joint project of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, it will be indispensable for anyone working with traditional or herbal remedies.
Chromatographic Fingerprint Analysis of Herbal Medicines: Thin-layer and High Performance Liquid Chromatography of Chinese Drugs
by Hildebert Wagner (Author), Rudolf Bauer (Editor), Dieter Melchart (Editor), Pei-Gen Xiao (Editor), Anton Staudinger (Editor)
This manual, to be published in two volumes, provides a condensed overview of the analytical investigation of 80 Chinese Herbal Drugs which are most frequently in use. Thin layer chromatographic-, high pressure liquid chromatographic- and gas chromatographic-fingerprint analytical techniques allow the detection of all main low-molecular constituents of a plant drug and even single constituents can be visualized... Bioactive constituents, pharmacological and biological activities of several single herbal drugs as well as their therapeutic applications are discussed.
THE ORGANIC MEDICINAL HERB FARMER: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO PRODUCING HIGH-QUALITY HERBS ON A MARKET SCALE
by Jeff Carpenter & Melanie Carpenter
Although not specifically about Chinese medicinal herbs, the information about large-scale herb farming should not be overlooked. Laying out fields, herb drying techniques, and larger equipment usage is particularly helpful.
THE MEDICINAL HERB GROWER: A GUIDE FOR CULTIVATING PLANTS THAT HEAL (Vol.1)
by Richo Cech
This book provides gentle encouragement and many, many ideas to try as a grower. While not all of his suggestions are meant for production growers, this collection of thoughts have a place on any medicinal herb grower’s bookshelf.
THE BUSINESS OF BOTANICALS
by Ann Armbrecht
In The Business of Botanicals, Armbrecht explores global herbal medicine supply chains and networks and shares her insight on the big business of medicinal herb and their journey from seed to shelf. Read a book review from Mother Earth News here.
Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (2020 English Edition) 4 Vols set
Publisher: China Medical Science Press
The Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China 2020 Edition (referred to as the Chinese Pharmacopoeia), this edition of pharmacopoeia includes 5911 monographs, 319 new additions, 3177 revisions, 10 rejections, and 6 reductions due to the merger of monographs.