Bai Tou Weng (White-Haired Old Man)

Pulsatilla chinensis

Origin: China

Improvement status: Wild

Seeds per packet: ~200

BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED

Life cycle: Perennial

Bai Tou Weng, or “White-Haired Old Man” (Pulsatilla chinensis), is a charming spring ephemeral perennial flower and a powerful medicinal plant, also known as “hairy sister flower.” With pretty purple flowers on small fuzzy plants, this cousin of the eastern pasqueflower is native to areas spanning China, eastern Russia, and North Korea. After the early, beautiful, but short-lived flower fades, a slender, whitish-silver, tufted seed (the white-haired old man) emerges. As one of the 50 key herbs in traditional Chinese medicine, bai tou weng's roots are decocted and used for relieving gastrointestinal infections and fever, likely due to the presence of the protoanemonin compound. The herb has also been researched for its anti-cancer properties.

Legend has it there once was a kind-hearted young man who lived in a small village. One day he was struck by a terrible stomach-ache, but it was high noon and all of his neighbors were out working in the fields. He was in such pain that he fainted before he could reach the village doctor. Out of his stupor, he saw a white-haired old man who told him that the roots of those weeds on the roadside could cure him. After he awoke, he dug up some roots of the weeds and suddenly his illness was gone. When he told his elders in the village of what had transpired, they told him that the man he’d seen was the plant itself.

We’re excited to be offering this beautiful and magical medicinal plant this year. Grab your seeds while we've still got them!

These seeds were imported from China by the good folks at Sheffield’s Seeds in Locke, NY.

GROWING TIPS: Taking 2-3 weeks, seeds are slow to germinate but will do so more quickly as soil temperatures warm to 60F. Seeds benefit from scarification. Try soaking 24 hours in water then cold stratifying for 60 days, or direct sowing in autumn. Sow seeds shallowly and tamp in light to loamy soils; sunlight aids germination. Soil should be neutral or only slightly acidic; saline, alkaline, or waterlogged sites are not suitable for this White-Haired Old Man.

NOTE: The photo used here is from zhangshen and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.