Introduction of Bai Qian:Rhizoma Cynanchi Stauntonii or Willowleaf Swallowwort Rhizome.
✵The article gives records of the herb Willowleaf Swallowwort Rhizome, its English name, Latin name, property and flavor, its botanical source 2 plant species, ①.Cynanchum stauntonii (Deone.) Schltr. ex Lévl., ②.Cynanchum glaucescens (Deone.) Hand. Mazz., with a detailed introduction to the botanical features of these two plants, the growth characteristics, and ecological environment of these two plants, the features of the herb Willowleaf Swallowwort Rhizome, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guide.
Pin Yin Name: Bái Qián.
English Name: Willowleaf Swallowwort Rhizome.
Latin Name: Rhizoma Cynanchi Stauntonii.
Property and flavor: slight warm, pungent, bitter.
Brief introduction: The herb Rhizoma Cynanchi Stauntonii is the dried rhizome and root of Cynanchum stauntonii (Deone.) Schltr. ex Lévl. Or Cynanchum glaucescens (Deone.) Hand. Mazz., used for the treatment of cough and dyspnea with profuse phlegm. The herb is commonly known as Rhizoma Cynanchi Stauntonii, Willowleaf Swallowwort Rhizome, Bái Qián.
Botanical source: The herb Rhizoma Cynanchi Stauntonii (Willowleaf Swallowwort Rhizome) is the dried rhizome and root of Cynanchum stauntonii (Deone.) Schltr. ex Lévl. Or Cynanchum glaucescens (Deone.) Hand. Mazz., they are plants of the Asclepiadaceae family (Asclepiadaceae, milkweed subfamily) of the Contortae order. It is also known as Willowleaf Swallowwort Rhizome, Glaucescent Swallowwort Rhizome, Rhizome of Willowleaf Swallowwort, Rhizome of Glaucescent Swallowwort, or Bái Qián.
Herbal classic book defined the herb Rhizoma Cynanchi Stauntonii(Willowleaf Swallowwort Rhizome) as the dried rhizome and root of:(1). Cynanchum stauntonii (Deone.) Schltr. ex Lévl., or (2). Cynanchum glaucescens (Deone.) Hand. Mazz. These 2 commonly used species are introduced:
(1).Cynanchum stauntonii (Deone.) Schltr. ex Lévl.
Botanical description: Cynanchum stauntonii (Deone.) Schltr. ex Lévl is also known as Pentasacme stauntonii Deone. It is also known as water willow, big crane gourd, willow-leaf Cynanchum, and Bai Qian. Perennial semierect bushy plant, the plant grows up to 0.5~1 meters high. The rhizome grows vertically or obliquely, hollow as a goose hair tube, the root is extremely developed, numerous, and thin, whisker shape, yellow-white or slightly reddish brown. The stem is cylindrical, stem surface is celadon (sage green), has fine edges. Leaves are opposite, have short petioles; leaf blades are chartaceous (papery), lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 3~12 cm long, 0.3~1.4 cm wide, the apex is acuminate, the base is tapering, entire, midrib is conspicuous on the undersurface of leaf, lateral veins are in about 6 pairs.
Umbellate cyme is axillary, 3~8 flowers, bractlets are numerous; calyx is 5-parted, flower glands are not many on the base of the internal surface; Corolla is rotated, 5-parted, the lobe is linear, prunus (violet red), the internal surface has long pilose; catacorolla lobes are peltate, thickening, shorter than anther; 5 stamens grow together with pistils and form a column, anther is 2-loculed, each anther cell has a piece of pendulous light yellow pollinium (pollen mass); stigma is slightly protuberant and is wrapped in the thin membrane of the anther.
Follicles are simple, long and narrow-lanceolate, up to 9 cm long. The seed is lanceolate and yellowish-brown, and the apex has white filiform or silky hairs. Its flowering period is from May to August, and the fruiting period is from September to October.
Ecological environment: The plant grows on stream sides, river banks, or damp places in valleys, and is half-submerged in water. It is mainly distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River area, Zhujiang river area, southwest, and other areas of China.
Growth characteristics: The plant grows on the beach, on the sand by the river, or in damp places in the valley. The plant prefers a warm and humid climate and avoids drought, and it is better to choose the upper layer of the deep soil layer, fertile humus for cultivation.
Characters of herbs: The rhizome is cylindrical, branched, 4~14 cm long, and 2~4 mm in diameter; the surface is yellow-white to yellow-brown, has fine vertical wrinkles and conspicuous nodes, internode length is 1.5~4 cm, and there are several residual stems on the top end; the texture of the herb is fragile and easily broken, the fracture surface is hollow or there is the membranous pith. The roots are slender and curved, grow in cluster at nodes, 3~10 cm long, less than 1 mm in diameter, branched repeatedly into piliferous whiskers, and often coiled to balls; the texture of the herb is fragile, and the fracture surface is white. The herb has a slight smell and tastes slightly bitter. The herb of a better grade has thick roots and long fibrous roots.
Pharmacological actions: ①.Effect on respiratory system; ②.Anti-inflammatory effect.
Medicinal efficacy: Downbear Qi (sending down abnormally ascending), dissolving phlegm, relieving cough, indicated for treatment of cough with excessive phlegm accumulation of lung Qi, chest fullness and dyspnea with rapid respiration.
Administration of Rhizoma Cynanchi Stauntonii (Bái Qián):
Reference:
Administration Guide of Rhizoma Cynanchi Stauntonii (Bái Qián)
Botanical description: Cynanchum glaucescens (Deone.) Hand. Mazz is also known as Pentasachme glaucescens Deone. It is commonly known as Yuan Hua Ye Bai Qian, Sha Xiao, or Shui Zhu Xiao, a perennial herb, the plant grows up to 25~40 cm tall. Rhizomes are amphitropous, node is tufted, many fibrous roots. The stem is upright, young branches are brown piliferous and old branches are piliferous on the residual part. Leaves are opposite, rarely sessile; leaf blades are elliptic, 2.5~5 cm long, 0.8~1.5 cm wide, the apex is rounded or pointed, and the base is cuneate, entire.
Cymose is axillary; the calyx is yellow-green, almost deeply divided, lobes are ovate; corolla is yellow-white, deeply 5-parted, lobes are ovoid; 5 corollas, yellow-green, succulent, nodular, superventral around the apex of the pistil, several times the length of the pistil; 5 stamens, room covering the apex of stamen column; the ovary is superior, consisting of 2 nearly detached carpels, two styles apically connate to form a hypertrophic phialiform (disc shape) stigma.
1~2 follicles, narrowly ovoid, about 4.5 cm long. Seeds are numerous, the apex is covered with fine white fluff (tomentose). It is flowering in August, and its fruiting period is from September to October.
The differences between this species and Cynanchum stauntonii (Deone.) Schltr. ex Lévl are: stem has two rows of pilose; leaf blades are long elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, the apex is slightly obtuse, and the shape is similar to the leaf of Cynanchum stauntonii, 3~5 cm long, 1~1.5 cm wide, and subsessile. The flower is bigger, the corolla is yellow-white.
Ecological environment: The growth environment and distribution of Cynanchum glaucescens are the same as that of Cynanchum stauntonii. These two plant species often grow together.
Growth characteristics: The plant grows on the beach, on the sand by the river, or in damp places in the valley. The plant prefers a warm and humid climate and avoids drought, and it is better to choose the upper layer of the deep soil layer, fertile humus for cultivation.
Characters of herbs: The rhizome is short and small, the surface is grayish-green or light yellow, and the internode length is 1~2 cm long, the texture of the herb is hard, and the cavity of the fracture surface is small. The fibrous roots are slightly thick and long, 5~15 cm long, about 1 mm in diameter, have fewer branches, the texture of the herb is fragile and easily broken. The herb of a better grade has thick roots and long fibrous roots.
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References:
1.Introduction of Bai Qian:Rhizoma Cynanchi Stauntonii or Willowleaf Swallowwort Rhizome.
✵The article gives records of the herb Willowleaf Swallowwort Rhizome, its English name, Latin name, property and flavor, its botanical source 2 plant species, ①.Cynanchum stauntonii (Deone.) Schltr. ex Lévl., ②.Cynanchum glaucescens (Deone.) Hand. Mazz., with a detailed introduction to the botanical features of these two plants, the growth characteristics, and ecological environment of these two plants, the features of the herb Willowleaf Swallowwort Rhizome, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guide.
Pin Yin Name: Bái Qián.
Botanical description: Cynanchum stauntonii (Deone.) Schltr. ex Lévl is also known as Pentasacme stauntonii Deone. It is also known as water willow, big crane gourd, willow-leaf Cynanchum, and Bai Qian. Perennial semierect bushy plant, the plant grows up to 0.5~1 meters high. The rhizome grows vertically or obliquely, hollow as a goose hair tube, the root is extremely developed, numerous, and thin, whisker shape, yellow-white or slightly reddish brown. The stem is cylindrical, stem surface is celadon (sage green), has fine edges. Leaves are opposite, have short petioles; leaf blades are chartaceous (papery), lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 3~12 cm long, 0.3~1.4 cm wide, the apex is acuminate, the base is tapering, entire, midrib is conspicuous on the undersurface of leaf, lateral veins are in about 6 pairs.
Ecological environment: The plant grows on stream sides, river banks, or damp places in valleys, and is half-submerged in water. It is mainly distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River area, Zhujiang river area, southwest, and other areas of China.
Botanical description: Cynanchum glaucescens (Deone.) Hand. Mazz is also known as Pentasachme glaucescens Deone. It is commonly known as Yuan Hua Ye Bai Qian, Sha Xiao, or Shui Zhu Xiao, a perennial herb, the plant grows up to 25~40 cm tall. Rhizomes are amphitropous, node is tufted, many fibrous roots. The stem is upright, young branches are brown piliferous and old branches are piliferous on the residual part. Leaves are opposite, rarely sessile; leaf blades are elliptic, 2.5~5 cm long, 0.8~1.5 cm wide, the apex is rounded or pointed, and the base is cuneate, entire.
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