"Huangbo" is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine in clinic,which is mainly divided into " Chuanhuangbo" and " Guanhuangbo" in the market today. It's better to use thick and dark stem bark as medicine. This study combed the germplasms of " Huangbo" in Chinese herbal medicines and ancient medical books,which showed that the name,origin and processing of " Huangbo" had undergone evolution and changes since the ancient times. The results showed that " Huangbo" was first known as " Bomu" from " Sheng Nong's Herbal Classic". There was an attached name " Tanhuan" and the alias " Huangbo" besides " Bomu" in herbal books in Tang and Song Dynasty. Before Tang Dynasty, " Bomu" was mainly originated from stems or roots of Berberis species in Berberiaceae,and then it was mainly derived from the dry bark of Phellodendron chinense in Rutaceae since Song Dynasty. In Ming Dynasty,some herbal books recorded it name as " Huangbo",whose origin and medicinal parts remained unchanged,taking Sichuan as the best producing area. During the Republic of China era,the name " Huangbo" has evolved to " Huangbo",and the variety differentiation of " Chuanhuangbo", " Guanhuangbo" and " Yanghuangbo" appeared,in which " Guanhuangbo" was mainly derived from Ph. amurense Rupr.. In modern times,although species differentiation still exists in " Huangbo",the market is still dominated by " Chuanhuangbo".
Keywords: Huangbo; germplasm; herbal textual research; processing.