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The commonly used scientific name for Sanchi, or "three-seven root" in Chinese, is Panax notoginseng. The Chinese refer to it as "three-seven root" because the plant has three branches with seven leaves each (three to the left and four to the right), as described in Bencao Gangmu (also known as Compendium of Materia Medica) written by Li Shizhen, a prominent medical expert of the Ming Dynasty.
Sanchi is regarded as a top-grade crude drug of marvelous health-giving attributes by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). According to Compendium of Materia Medica, "Sanchi is warm in nature, sweet and slightly bitter in taste, and helpful for treating all diseases of the blood."
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