Gastrodia elata




Family Orchidaceae
Subamily Epidendroideae
Tribe Gastrodieae
Subtribe Gastrodiinae
Scientific name Gastrodia elata Blume
Synonyms none
Common name (Japanese common name) oni-no-yagara (オニノヤガラ, 鬼矢柄 [meaning: tiger arrow handle)
(English common name) none
Distribution (Japan) Hokkaido, Honshu, Sikoku, Kyushu, Okinawa
(Other nations) Korea, China, Taiwan
Habitat Mountane forest, streamside.
Chromosomal number 2n=16, 18
Description Plants electing 40-100cm tall. Leaves none. flowers pale green 7-8mm long, flowering in June to July. Terrestrial. Mycorrhizae plants
Reference Gastrodia elata Blume
Gastrodia elata Blume
Gastrodia elata modulated activator protein 1 via c-Jun N-terminal kinase signaling pathway in kainic acid-induced epilepsy in rats
Research Update:Gastrodia Tuber,Rhizoma Gastrodiae.
Process for producing interferon inducers (US Patent 4469685/1984)
Skin whitening composition containing bearberry extract and a reducing agent (US Patent 5980904/1999)
Essential oil composition (US Patent 6280751/2001)
Turmeric-containing cooking oils and fats (US Patent 6497908/2002)
Compositon containing medicinal herbs and young antlers of cornu cervi (US Patent 6444236/2002)
Method for inhibiting 15-lipoxygenase with fermented Glycine max (L.) extract (US Patent 6685973/2004)
Method for slowing the decomposition of a cosmetic composition (US Patent 6759033/2004)
Method of using fermented glycine max (L) extract for enhancing natural killer cell activity (US Patent 6733801/2004)
Crude drug compositions for treating or preventing arthritic diseases and the preparation process (US Patent 7074435/2006)
Herbal composition for the prevention and treatment of dementia (US Patent 7083811/2006)
Oral delivery of a botanical (US Patent 7037524/2006)
Composition comprising wenguanguo extracts, methods for preparing same and uses thereof (US Patent 7189420/2007)
Expression vectors comprising nucleic acids encoding SEBF proteins and uses thereof (US Patent 7244875/2007)
Therapeutic Gastrodia extracts (US Patent 7351434/2008)
Composition comprising Xanthoceras sorbifolia extracts, compounds isolated from same, methods for preparing same and uses thereof (US Patent 7524824/2009)
Note Rare species



Photo by Mr. hana-pon Photo by Mr. hana-pon
June 2009
at Nara Prefecture
June 2009
at Nara Prefecture