Among the most prominent of these are chaparral, Pau d'Arco, tang-kuei, hoelen, various Chinese formulas, and the Suma brand of Pfaffia paniculata. Enhances energy and vitality and shows great promise as a healing agent in chronic disorders believed to result from a lowered immune response. The herbs, shrubs or vines of the Amaranthaceae, numbering 400 to 500 species in 40 genera, occur in temperate, tropical and subtropical zones in both hemispheres. The family has been classified into two subfamilies based on the structure of the stamens and ovaries. There are many weedy species.
Ornamentals are numerous.
The edible seeds and young plants of several species have been valued as food in Central, and South America and the Himalayas. In the warmer parts of Central and South America this genus comprises approximately 50 mostly shrubby species. One, P. paniculata , is known as Brazilian ginseng. Howard-Williams, C. and J. W. Junk, Arch. Takemoto, T. and T. Odajima, Jap.