✵The article records the herb Chinese Lovage—its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, property and flavor, and its botanical sources: two plant species, (1) Ligusticum sinense Oliv. and (2) Ligusticum jeholense (Nakai et Kitag.) Nakai et Kitag.—with a detailed introduction to the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environments of these two plants; the characteristics of the herb Chinese Lovage; its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Rhizoma Ligustici (Chinese Lovage)
Pinyin Name: Gǎo Běn
English Name: Chinese Lovage or Chinese Ligusticum Rhizome
Latin Name: Rhizoma Ligustici
Property and Flavor: Warm, pungent.
Brief Introduction:Rhizoma Ligustici is the dried rhizome and roots of Ligusticum sinense Oliv. or Ligusticum jeholense (Nakai et Kitag.) Nakai et Kitag. It is used to alleviate vertex headache due to wind-cold invasion and rheumatic arthralgia. The herb is commonly known as Rhizoma Ligustici, Chinese Lovage, or Gao Ben.
Botanical Source:Rhizoma Ligustici (Chinese Lovage) is the dried rhizome and roots of Ligusticum sinense Oliv. or Ligusticum jeholense (Nakai et Kitag.) Nakai et Kitag., plants of the genus Ligusticum L., family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae, parsley family), order Apiales (formerly Umbellales). It is also known as Gao Ben, Chinese Ligusticum, Jehol Ligusticum, Chinese Ligusticum Rhizome, or Jehol Ligusticum Rhizome.
Classical herbal book define Rhizoma Ligustici (Chinese Lovage, Gao Ben) as the dried rhizome and roots of (1) Ligusticum sinense Oliv. and (2) Ligusticum jeholense (Nakai et Kitag.) Nakai et Kitag. These two commonly used species are described below:
(1) Ligusticum sinense Oliv.
Botanical Description: Also known as Gao Ben, this is a perennial herb reaching up to 1 in height. The rhizome is well-developed, with swollen, nodular enlargements. The stem is erect, cylindrical, hollow, and marked by longitudinal, straight grooves. Basal leaves possess long petioles (up to 20 cm); the leaf blade is broadly triangular (10–15 cm long × 15–18 cm wide), biternate-pinnatisect; the pinnae are oblong-ovate (6–10 cm × 5–7 cm); the lower pinnules are petiolate, with petioles 3–5 cm long and slightly enlarged bases. Terminal lobes are oval (≈3 cm long × ≈2 cm wide), acuminate at the apex, dentately lobed with mucronate tips; both surfaces are glabrous except for pubescence along the veins; the terminal pinnule tapers into a caudate tip. Middle-stem leaves are larger; upper-stem leaves are subsessile, with bases swollen into amplexicaul (stem-clasping), ovate sheaths.
Compound umbels are terminal or lateral; involucral bracts number 6–10, linear to pinnatilobate, ≈6 mm long; umbrella spokes number 14–30, up to 5 cm long, prismatic, and pubescent; umbellules bear ≈10 involucel bracts, linear or narrowly lanceolate, 3–4 mm long; flowers are small and lack calyx teeth; petals are white and obovate, with slightly concave apices and inflexed mucros; 5 stamens; the stylopodium is elevated; styles are elongated and recurved outward.
The cremocarp is oblong-ovate, ≈4 mm long and 2–2.5 mm wide, with a narrowed apex; dorsal ribs of schizocarp are protuberant; lateral ribs are broadened into wings;1–3 vittae (oil ducts) occur in the dorsal furrows, 3 vittae in the lateral furrows, and 4–6 vittae on the commissure; the endosperm’s ventral surface is flat. Flowering occurs from July to September; fruiting occurs from September to October.
Ecological Environment: The plant grows in forests, meadows, along forest margins, on wet gravelly slopes, along stream banks, and in gullies, at elevations of 1,000–2,700 meters above sea level.
Growth Characteristics: The plant prefers cool, moist climates and is cold-tolerant but intolerant of waterlogging. Soil requirements are not strict, though optimal growth occurs in deep, loose, fertile, well-drained sandy soils. It is unsuitable for cultivation in heavy clay, infertile, or drought-prone fields. Continuous cropping should be avoided.
Characteristics of the Herb: The rhizome is irregularly nodular-cylindrical, slightly twisted and branched, 3–10 cm long and 1–2 cm in diameter. The surface is yellowish-brown to dark brown, rough and coarse, with vertical (longitudinal) wrinkles; corky tissue exfoliates readily. One to several circular, stem-scar depressions occur at the upper end; numerous punctiform, protuberant root scars and residual roots are present on the underside. The herb is lightweight, hard in texture, and brittle—easily fractured—with a fibrous, yellow to yellowish-white fracture surface. It possesses a strong aromatic odor and tastes pungent, bitter, and slightly numbing.
Pharmacological actions: (1) Central inhibitory effects; (2) Anti-inflammatory and anti-diarrheal effects; (3) Effects on smooth muscle.
Medicinal efficacy: Disperses wind-cold and dampness pathogens, warms to dispel cold and alleviates pain; indicated for wind-cold headache, parietal headache, cold-damp abdominal pain, hernia, abdominal mass, scabies, etc.
Administration of Rhizoma Ligustici (Gǎo Běn):
Reference:
Administration Guide of Rhizoma Ligustici (Gǎo Běn)
TCM Books:
(1) Internally: 3–9 grams, as a water decoction; (2) Water decoction: 1–3 qián (≈3–9 grams); Externally: wash with water decoction or apply finely ground herb powder; (3) 3–10 grams, as a water decoction; prepared as pills or powders. Externally: appropriate amount, wash with water decoction, or prepared as finely ground herb powder and applied topically.
(2) Ligusticum jeholense (Nakai et Kitag.) Nakai et Kitag.
Botanical description: The plant is also known as Cnidium jeholense Nakai & Kitag. or Liao Gāo Běn. It is a perennial herb growing up to 30–80 cm tall. The rhizome is short; the root is conical and bifurcated, with a dark brown surface. The stem is erect, cylindrical, and hollow, bearing longitudinal stripes on the surface and often tinged purplish. Leaves are stipitate; the basal leaf petiole is up to 19 cm long and gradually shortens upward. The leaf blade is broadly ovate, 10–20 cm long and 8–16 cm wide, 2–3-pinnatisect, with 4–6 pairs of primary lobes; the lowest pair bears longer stipules, 2–5 cm long. Bipinnatisect lobes are often sessile; terminal lobes are oval (egg-shaped) to prismatic-ovate, 2–3 cm long and 1–2 cm wide, with a cordate to cuneate base, a margin typically 3–5-lobed and dentate, the teeth tipped with a minute mucro; coarse hairs occur along the midvein on the upper surface, while the lower surface is glabrous. Upper stem leaves are smaller, with sheath-like petioles.
The compound umbel is terminal or lateral, 3–7 cm in diameter; with 2 involucral bracts, linear and ~1 cm long, covered with coarse hispid hairs, the margin narrowly membranous and caducous; 8–16 rays, 2–3 cm long; 8–10 involucel bracts, subulate (awl-shaped), 3–5 mm long, also covered with coarse hispid hairs; each umbellule bears 15–20 flowers; calyx teeth inconspicuous; petals white, oblong-obovate, with an inflexed ligule; the stylopodium is elevated and hemispherical; the style is elongated and reflexed downward during fruiting.
The cremocarps are elliptic, 3–4 mm long and 2–2.5 mm wide; the dorsal ridge of the schizocarp is prominent; the lateral ribs are narrowly aliform (narrowly winged); there is 1 vitta (oil duct) in each lateral groove, less than 2, and 2–4 vittae on the commissure; the endosperm has a flat and straight ventral surface. Flowering occurs from July to September; fruiting from September to October.
Ecological environment: The plant grows in forests, meadows, along forest edges, on wet gravelly slopes, beside streams, and in gullies, at elevations of 1,250–2,500 m above sea level.
Characteristics of the Herb: The rhizome of Ligusticum jeholense is irregularly lump-like or columnar, 2–10 cm long and 0.5–1.5 cm in diameter. The surface is brown, bearing tufted leaf bases and raised nodes at the upper end, and numerous slender, curved roots at the lower end.
✵The article records the herb Chinese Lovage—its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, property and flavor, and its botanical sources: two plant species, (1) Ligusticum sinense Oliv. and (2) Ligusticum jeholense (Nakai et Kitag.) Nakai et Kitag.—with a detailed introduction to the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environments of these two plants; the characteristics of the herb Chinese Lovage; its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Pinyin Name: Gǎo Běn
Botanical Description: Also known as Gao Ben, this is a perennial herb reaching up to 1 in height. The rhizome is well-developed, with swollen, nodular enlargements. The stem is erect, cylindrical, hollow, and marked by longitudinal, straight grooves. Basal leaves possess long petioles (up to 20 cm); the leaf blade is broadly triangular (10–15 cm long × 15–18 cm wide), biternate-pinnatisect; the pinnae are oblong-ovate (6–10 cm × 5–7 cm); the lower pinnules are petiolate, with petioles 3–5 cm long and slightly enlarged bases. Terminal lobes are oval (≈3 cm long × ≈2 cm wide), acuminate at the apex, dentately lobed with mucronate tips; both surfaces are glabrous except for pubescence along the veins; the terminal pinnule tapers into a caudate tip. Middle-stem leaves are larger; upper-stem leaves are subsessile, with bases swollen into amplexicaul (stem-clasping), ovate sheaths.
Botanical description: The plant is also known as Cnidium jeholense Nakai & Kitag. or Liao Gāo Běn. It is a perennial herb growing up to 30–80 cm tall. The rhizome is short; the root is conical and bifurcated, with a dark brown surface. The stem is erect, cylindrical, and hollow, bearing longitudinal stripes on the surface and often tinged purplish. Leaves are stipitate; the basal leaf petiole is up to 19 cm long and gradually shortens upward. The leaf blade is broadly ovate, 10–20 cm long and 8–16 cm wide, 2–3-pinnatisect, with 4–6 pairs of primary lobes; the lowest pair bears longer stipules, 2–5 cm long. Bipinnatisect lobes are often sessile; terminal lobes are oval (egg-shaped) to prismatic-ovate, 2–3 cm long and 1–2 cm wide, with a cordate to cuneate base, a margin typically 3–5-lobed and dentate, the teeth tipped with a minute mucro; coarse hairs occur along the midvein on the upper surface, while the lower surface is glabrous. Upper stem leaves are smaller, with sheath-like petioles.
URL QR code:
