Three Treasures of Pu'er: Tea, Coffee and Dendrobe (3)

Product Name Card III: Pu'er Dendrobe

Dendrobe is a stem of the dendrobium in the genus of orchids, mainly distributed in tropic and subtropical zones of Asia, Australia and Pacific Islands. It contains more than 1,000 species throughout the world. In China live about 76 species with the majority distributed in southwest China, South China and Taiwan and 42 species in Yunnan Province. Among the 76 dendrobium plants in China, about 40 are used for medicinal purposes.

When dendrobe is used as medicine, it can tonify stomach and promote body fluid generation, and nourish Yin and clear heat. Therefore, it is applicable to such syndromes as impairment of Yin and body fluid deficiency, thirst and polydipsia, poor appetite and vomiturition, deficiency-heat after a short time of recovery of a dangerous disease, and blurred vision. In addition, eating dendrobe can also help nourish Yin, clear heat, tonify stomach, promote body fluid generation, drive gastric secretion and thus aid digestion, relieve fever and ease pain to a certain extent, increase metabolism and resist against aging. With the rise of the industry of flowers and plants, people find that it also has a high ornamental value. As a result, it is classified into cattleya and makes its way to large flower parks from herbal medicine gardens, thus becoming a very popular flower today.

Wild dendrobe is a rare and endangered species under the second-class state protection, and thus, artificial planting has turned to be an important means for protection, development and utilization of this wild resource. In 2012, 9,778 mu of large dendrobe and 5,503 mu of dendrobium officinale were planted in Pu'er City. Yunnan Gaoshan Bioagriculture Co., Ltd. was introduced to carry out large-scale and standardized cultivation of dendrobium officinale with an initial planting area of 2,000 mu.