黃精為常用中藥，始載於『名醫別錄』。黃精基原為百合科(Liliaceae)植物之黃精Delar. ex Redoute、多花黃精或滇黃精Coll. et Hemsl.之乾燥根莖。黃精屬植物的根莖主要有兩類型：塊狀與圓柱狀；長期以來將塊狀者稱為黃精，圓柱狀者稱為玉竹。因同屬植物生藥性狀相似，易有混用情形，故為了解黃精市售品之基原，於台北、台中及高雄地區採逢機取樣方式價購黃精檢體50 件進行檢測。此50 件檢體經性狀特徵、組織鏡檢、解離要素及TLC 鑑別，並與對照藥材及文獻比對，50 件市售黃精均為滇黃精，唯未見以玉竹（ ）藥材當黃精使用。

Polygonatum genus includesmore than forty species. Polygonati Rhizoma (黃精) and Polygonati odorati Rhizoma (玉竹) are two representative Chinese crude drugs that are derived from this genus. Polygonati Rhizoma is the dried rhizome of Delar. ex Redoute, Coll. et Hemsl. or Hua. Polygonati odorati Rhizoma is the dried rhizome of P. odoratum (Mill.) Druce. The morphology of those two species is similar. The characteristic for distinguishing those two crude drugs is by the appearances of rhizome. Lump shape rhizome is regarded as Polygonati Rhizoma and cylindrical shape rhizome is regarded as Polygonati odorati Rhizoma. The two crude drugs are used for different effects, but their botanical origins are not quite clear because of the morphological similarities of the rhizomes. In order to identify the botanical origins of commercial Polygonati Rhizoma in Taiwan, an anatomical method was carried out to exam samples and to establish the approaches to distinguish between Polygonati Rhizoma and Polygonati odorati Rhizoma. The result showed that fifty samples were Coll. et Hemsl. and all of them were processed by steam. None of them were . The rhizomes of each species could be distinguished from each other by the following items: the shape of cuticles, types and number of vascular bundles, and the number of mucilage cells, etc.