Rehmannia is a member of the jasmine family that is native to Asia. Due to its striking bell-shaped flowers and beautiful foliage, it is also commonly grown as a garden ornamental in Europe and North America. In fact, the appearance of the flowers has earned the plant the nickname of Chinese foxglove.
The root of the plant has far less visual appeal, but other rewards to offer. Rehmannia root contains more than a dozen iridoid glycosides, with catalpol leading in concentration.
First described in the Chinese classic text Shennong Bencao Jing complied in approximately 100 A.D., Rehmannia root continues to be an important botanical in traditional Chinese herbology today.
