Objectives : Due to the morphological similarity of in the roots of herbal medicine, the official herbal medicine is very difficult to authenticate between the original plants of Patriniae Radix and two adulterant Patrinia species. Therefore, we introduced DNA barcode analysis to establish a powerful tool for the authentication of Patriniae Radix from its adulterants. Methods : To analyze DNA barcode regions, genomic DNA was extracted from twenty-nine specimens of Patrinia scabiosaefolia, Patrinia villosa, Patrinia saniculifolia, and Patrinia rupestris, and internal transcribed spacer 2(ITS2), matK and rbcL genes were amplified. For identification of species specific sequences, a comparative analysis was performed by the ClastalW based on entire sequences of ITS2, matK and rbcL genes, respectively. Results : In comparison of three DNA barcode sequences, we identified 22, 22, and 12 species-specific nucleotides enough to distinguish each four species from ITS2, matK and rbcL gene, respectively. The sequence differences at the corresponding positions were available genetic marker nucleotides to discriminate the correct species among analyzed four species. These results indicated that comparative analysis of ITS2, matK and rbcL genes were useful genetic markers to authenticate Patriniae Radix. Conclusions : The marker nucleotides enough to distinguish P. scabiosaefolia, P. villosa, P. saniculifolia, and P. rupestris, were obtained at 22 SNP marker nucleotides from ITS2 and matK DNA barcode sequences, but they were confirmed at 12 SNP marker nucleotides from rbcL. These differences could be used to authenticate Patriniae Radix from its adulterants as well as discriminating each four species.