Yushu Fern Root

Yushu Fern Root

Yushu fern root is a product with geographical indication status.

　　Wild Yushu ginseng fruit, also known as fern root, is a unique fern plant native to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is widely distributed across Qinghai, with particularly plump tubers, high yields, and superior quality in the cold highland regions of southern and northern Qinghai.

　　The wild Yushu ginseng fruit from the Eighteen Treasures of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grows in meadows and river floodplains at altitudes between 1,700 and 4,300 meters. It is extremely resilient in moist and cold conditions, often forming large colonies. Its tuberous roots are harvested in spring and autumn. The trailing stems produce adventitious roots at the nodes, giving rise to new plants. It has pinnate compound leaves with dense grayish-white hairs on the undersides. The yellow flowers are solitary, and the fruit is a achene. The flowering and fruiting period lasts from May to September.

　　Benefits: Ginseng fruit has a neutral nature and sweet taste, and offers benefits such as strengthening the spleen and stomach, promoting fluid production and quenching thirst, astringing to stop bleeding, and invigorating qi and enriching blood. It is suitable for treating diarrhea, spleen deficiency, post-illness anemia, hemorrhoidal bleeding, malnutrition, and yang deficiency of the spleen and kidneys. Known as the “King of Anti-Cancer,” ginseng fruit is rich in various trace elements such as selenium, iron, calcium, and zinc. These elements play a crucial role in activating human cells, enhancing immunity, maintaining normal immune cell function, promoting the absorption and utilization of vitamins and nutrients, and inhibiting the fission of malignant tumor cells.

　　Suitable for: People with low immunity, all age groups, especially those with poor gastrointestinal function.

　　Yushu Fern Root

　　Vegetables

　　Geographic Scope

　　The geographical indication area for Yushu fern root covers the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, located in the southwestern hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the source of the Three Rivers. In Tibetan, Yushu means “ruins.” Its geographic coordinates are roughly between 89°27′ and 97°39′ east longitude, and 31°45′ and 36°10′ north latitude. It borders Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture to the north, the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang to the northwest, Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture to the east, Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province to the southeast, and Chamdo and Nagqu prefectures of Tibet to the southwest. The prefecture stretches 738 kilometers from east to west and is up to 406 kilometers wide from north to south, covering a total land area of 203,000 square kilometers. The wild Yushu fern root is found throughout all six counties of the prefecture: Yushu, Chengduo, Nangqian, Zadoi, Zhidoi, and Qumarleb.