Introduction of Long Dan:Chinese Gentian or Radix Gentianae.

 ✵The article gives records of the herb Chinese Gentian, its English name, Latin name, property and flavor, its botanical source four plant species, ①.Gentiana manshurica Kitag., ②.Gentiana scabra Bunge., ③.Gentiana triflora Pall., ④.Gentiana rigescens Franch., with a detailed introduction to the botanical features of these four plant species, the growth characteristics, and ecological environment of these four plant species, the features of the herb Chinese Gentian, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guide.

Radix Gentianae(Chinese Gentian).

 Pin Yin Name: Lónɡ Dǎn.
 English Name: Chinese Gentian.
 Latin Name: Radix Gentianae.
 Property and flavor: cold, bitter.

 Brief introduction: The Herb Radix Gentianae is the dried root and rhizome of Gentiana manshurica Kitag., Gentiana scabra Bunge., Gentiana triflora Pall., or Gentiana rigescens Franch., used to clear heat, dry dampness, and purge the liver and gallbladder fire for the treatment of (1).damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder with morbid leukorrhea, jaundice, or eczema, and (2).liver fire with headache, hypochondriac pain, deafness or convulsions. The herb is commonly known as Radix Gentianae, Chinese Gentian, Lónɡ Dǎn.

 Gentiana is a perennial herb which is indigenous to the alpine and sub-alpine pastures of central and Southern Europe. Ringed and forked, the thick, wrinkled root is brown on the outside and yellow on the inside. The simple, upright, glabrous stem grows to a height of 120 cm, opposite bluish-green elliptical leaves have prominent curved veins. Three to ten yellow flowers arise together in the axils of calathiform (bowl-shaped) bracts after the root is about ten years old. The fruit is an oblong, two-valved capsularfruit.

  Flower and Fruit: The flowers are yellow, terminal, pedicled, and axillary in cyme-like false whorls. The calyx is deeply 2-parted. The corolla is rotated and divided almost to the base into 5 or 6 lanceolate tips. There are 5 stamens with 8 mm long anthers and 1 superior ovary. The fruit is 6 cm long and capsule-shaped. The most seeds are flat, oblong, or round, with a membranous edge.

 Leaves, Stems, and Root: Yellow Gentian is a completely glabrous perennial plant that grows up to 140 cm high. The rhizome has many heads, and the top of the rhizome can attain the thickness of an arm. The main root is the taproot, which grows up to 1 meter long. The stem is round, unbranched, hollow, and grooved in the upper region to finger thickness. The leaves are elliptical and bluish-green, have strongly curved ribs, and grow up to 30 cm long and 15 cm wide.

 Botanical source: The herb Radix Gentianae (Chinese Gentian) is the dried root and rhizome of species (1).Gentiana manshurica Kitag., (2).Gentiana scabra Bunge., (3).Gentiana triflora Pall., or (4).Gentiana rigescens Franch., they are plants of the Gentiana genus (Gentiana Tourn.L. genus), the Gentianaceae family (gentian family) of the Gentianales order. These 4 commonly used species are introduced:

(1).Gentiana manshurica Kitag.

  Botanical description: Gentiana manshurica Kitag is commonly known as Tiao Ye Long Dan, or strip-shaped leaf Gentiana, or Shui Long Dan, and so on. This species differs from Gentiana scabra Bunge in that its leaves are thick, more or less coriaceous, and sessile, leaves on the upper part are linear-lanceolate to linear, the base is obtuse, the margin is slightly revolute (curl outward). 1 or 2 Flowers; calyx lobes are linear-lanceolate, longer than or as long as calyx tube; corolla lobe is acuminate at apex.

  Ecological environment: The shrub grows in grassland on hillsides or mountain slopes, or humid areas, in areas at altitudes of 110~1,100 meters above sea level.

 Growth characteristics: Gentiana manshurica prefers a cool climate, and soil requirements are not strict, but light clay and humus soil are appropriate. It should not be cultivated in areas with high dryness and strong direct sunlight.

  Characters of herbs: The rhizome of Gentiana manshurica Kitag are mostly straight, lumpy or in long blocks, 0.5~1.5 cm long, and 4~7 mm in diameter, with 2~16 roots, growing in a cluster at the lower part, often less than 10. The root is about 15 cm long, and 2~4 mm in diameter; the surface is yellowish-brown or taupe brown (gray-brown), has twisted vertical wrinkles, fine transverse striation is conspicuous on the upper part and has a few protruding rootlets marks.

 Pharmacologi