Introduction of Fen Bi Xie:Hypoglaucous Yam Rhizome or Rhizoma Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae.

TCM Herbalism:Medicinals and Classifications. ✵The article gives records of the herb Hypoglaucous Yam Rhizome, its English name, Latin name, property and flavor, its botanical source one plant species, ①.Dioscorea hypoglauca Palib., with a detailed introduction to the botanical features of this plant species, the growth characteristics, and ecological environment of this plant species, the features of the herb Hypoglaucous Yam Rhizome, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guide.

Rhizoma Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae(Hypoglaucous Yam Rhizome).

pale yellow dried herb slices of Rhizoma Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae Pin Yin Name: Fěn Bì Xiè.
 English Name: Hypoglaucous Yam Rhizome.
 Latin Name: Rhizoma Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae.
 Property and flavor: neutral in nature, bitter.

 Brief introduction: The herb Rhizoma Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae is the dried rhizome of Dioscorea hypoglauca Palib., used in a similar way to Rhizoma Dioscoreae Septemlobae. The herb is commonly known as Rhizoma Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae, Hypoglaucous Yam Rhizome, Fěn Bì Xiè.

 Botanical source: Herbal classic book defined the herb Rhizoma Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae (Hypoglaucous Yam Rhizome) as the dried rhizome of the species (1). Dioscorea hypoglauca Palib. It is a plant of the Dioscorea L. genus, the Dioscoreaceae family (yam family) of the Liliales order. This commonly used species is introduced:

(1).Dioscorea hypoglauca Palib.


 plants of Dioscorea hypoglauca Palib with pied leaves grow in field Botanical description: Dioscorea hypoglauca Palib is also known as Dioscorea collettii Hook.f.var.hypoglauca (Palibin) Péi et Ting., is commonly known as Fěn Bēi Shǔ Yù (means pink back dioscorea rhizome). A perennial twining herbaceous vine. Rhizomes are amphitropous, ginger lumps-shaped, the fracture surface is ginger color, and many fibrous roots grow on the surface. The stem is sinistral, glabrous, and sometimes densely covered with yellow pubescence. Simple leaves are alternate; leaf blades are triangular cordate or ovate-lanceolate, apex is acuminate, margin is undulated or subentire, the undersurface is ash gray (grayish-white), covered with yellowish-white hirsute along leaf veins and leaf margin, leaf margin of some plants are translucent and scarious (scariose), turns black when it is dried.

 a colorful drawing of Dioscorea hypoglauca Palib,with brown rhizome,green stem and leaves,and brownish fruits The plant is dioecious. Male inflorescence is solitary or 2~3 cluster in leaf axils; Male flowers are sessile, 2~3 flowers tuft at the base of inflorescence, often solitary at the top; Flower bracts are ovate-lanceolate, bracteoles (bractlet) are oval (egg-shaped), apex is acuminate, sometimes 2-lobed; perianth is phialiform (disc shape), tip is 6-lobed, lobes are yellow when it is fresh, and turns black when it is dried, sometimes a few not change to black; 3 stamens, insert on the perianth tube, filaments are shorter, anthers are ovoid, septum turn wider after flowering, about half-length of anthers, short fork-shaped, staminodes sometimes are filamentlike, alternate with 3 developed stamens. The female inflorescence is spicate (spiciform); The stamens of female flowers are filamentous; the ovary is long cylindrical, the stigma is 3-lobed. Flowers are all solitary, the ovary is inferior, the stigma is 3-lobed, and staminodes are filamentous form.

 Capsularfruit has 3 wings, is truncated at both ends, and the tip and base are usually equal widths, the surface is chestnut-brown, shiny, retroflexed and pendulous when it is mature; 2 seeds, insert in the middle of the fruit shaft, and has membranous wings all around at maturity. Its flowering period is from May to August, the fruiting period is from June to October.

 plants of Dioscorea hypoglauca Palib with stem and leaves Ecological environment: The plant grows under the edge of the mixed forest or sparse forest at the edge of the abrupt slope of the mountainside, gentle slope of the valley, or shade of a gully, in areas at altitudes of 200~1,300 meters above sea level. The plant is distributed in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the Zhujiang River area, and the east big island of China.

 Growth characteristics: It is appropriate to choose a field with a deep soil layer, sandy loam, loose and fertile soil, strong water permeability, good water retention, good drainage, high soil fertility, and organic matter content for cultivation. The soil pH (pH scale:acidity-basicity) is neutral to slightly acidic.

 dried yellowish slices of Hypoglaucous Yam Rhizome Characters of herbs: The rhizome is bamboo-shaped, cylindrical-like, and branched, the surface is wizened, and often has residual withered scars and unmoved tender fibrous roots. The herb slices are irregular slices, different in sizes, about 0.5 mm thick, the thickness is about 0.5 mm, with irregular edges, and some have brownish-black or taupe brown bark. The fracture surface is yellowish-white or pale grayish brown, flat, refined, and powdery, there are vascular bundles scattered as small spots, extremely conspicuous in lights. The texture of the herb is loose, slightly elastic, and easy to break. The herb has a slight odor, it tastes bitter and slightly pungent. The herb of a better grade has big and thin slices, the cross-section is yellowish-white.

 plants of Dioscorea hypoglauca Palib with stems and leaves Medicinal efficacy: Remove dampness through diuresis, eliminate turbidity, dispel the wind and remove arthralgia. It is indicated for stranguria due to chyluria (stranguria marked by chyluria), gonorrhea or white turbidness, leukorrhagia(profuse leukorrhea), rheumatic arthralgia and pain, joint inflexibility, lumbocrural pain (pain in the waist and knee), etc.

 Administration of Rhizoma Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae (Fěn Bì Xiè): 
 
Reference: Administration Guide of Rhizoma Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae (Fěn Bì Xiè)
TCM Books: ①.Internally: 9~15 grams.

 

 
  

 

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References:
  • 1.Introduction of Fen Bi Xie:Hypoglaucous Yam Rhizome or Rhizoma Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae.

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