Elymus repens Identity & Plant Part
The botanical entity is Elymus repens (L.) Gould, couchgrass, quackgrass or twitch, a creeping perennial grass of the Poaceae that is also known by the older name Agropyron repens. The part used is the rhizome, sold as couchgrass root. Stems, leaves and seed heads are not part of this ingredient.
Supplier pages often list the part as root, but the material is botanically a rhizome. That difference matters for specification, because true roots and rhizomes carry different tissue. The rhizome holds fructans, sugar alcohols such as mannitol, phenolic acids and small amounts of saponins and volatile oil, named only as constituent families.
Couchgrass is a widespread field weed, and harvested rhizome is washed to remove soil before it is dried and extracted. The light yellow shade of the powder reflects the pale rhizome tissue.












