ABSTRACT
The reason some writers object to the designation fo-ti for this plant is its potential confusion with the herbal mixture marketed as Fo-ti Tieng.1 That product, which has a registered trademark name, is totally different from fo-ti or he-shou-wu. Fo-ti Tieng consists of a mixture of the leaves and stems of a diminutive variety of gotu kola [Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. of the family Apiaceae], the root of Indian physic [Gillenia trifoliata (L.) Moench of the family Rosaceae], which has both emetic and laxative properties, and small amounts of caffeine-containing cola or kolanuts, the dried cotyledons of Cola nitida (Vent.) Schott & Endl., family Sterculiaceae, or related species.2 Since whatever activity the mixture may possess is probably due mostly to the gotu kola contained in it, the reader is referred to the section on that drug in this book for details.
