What Is Pseudostellaria heterophylla?

Pseudostellaria heterophylla (Miq.) Pax is a perennial herb in the pink family (Caryophyllaceae). Its root tuber — known in the Chinese pharmacopoeia as Pseudostellariae Radix and in trade as Tai Zi Shen — is a commonly traded herbal root in China. On this site, we use the trade name Prince Ginseng for this plant.

One plant, several names

International buyers encounter this material under many labels: Prince Ginseng, Lesser Ginseng, False Starwort Root, Hai Er Shen, Tai Zi Shen and Taizishen. All of them refer to the same botanical source: Pseudostellaria heterophylla. The pharmacopoeial name Pseudostellariae Radix refers specifically to the dried root tuber used as herbal material.

The plant part that matters

The commercially relevant part is the root tuber: small, slender, spindle-shaped tubers, typically a few centimetres long. After harvest they are cleaned and dried, which gives the dried root its characteristic pale yellow to yellowish-brown colour and slightly wrinkled surface. Fresh roots are fleshy and pale yellow; dried roots are firm and brittle.

How buyers specify it

In B2B trade the material is usually specified by:

• Botanical identity — confirmed as Pseudostellaria heterophylla, ideally with macroscopic and microscopic identification on the COA
• Origin — the growing region, because origin drives both quality expectations and price in this trade
• Form — dried whole root is the primary trade form; extract is a separate, secondary supply form
• Grade and cleanliness — sorting quality, foreign matter and colour uniformity

Why origin matters so much

Pseudostellaria is grown in several Chinese provinces, but Guizhou — and Shibing County in particular — is an important producing region. For buyers, origin is not marketing: it determines cultivation practices, harvest timing, drying traditions and the grading conventions used in the trade. That is why serious suppliers state their origin plainly and can back it up with evidence from the field.

If you are evaluating Pseudostellaria suppliers, our guides to sourcing from China and evaluating a supplier walk through the practical checks step by step.