Botanicon Sinicum: notes on Chinese botany from native and Western sources. Part 3, Botanical investigations into the materia medica of the ancient Chinese / [E. Bretschneider].

  • Emil Bretschneider
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Botanicon Sinicum: notes on Chinese botany from native and Western sources. Part 3, Botanical investigations into the materia medica of the ancient Chinese / [E. Bretschneider]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    12.—Tit shu (c/m). P., XII&, 4.—21, CII. Comp. Bh ya, 7, 8, 159. Ben king:—Shu, also [Jj shan ki. The root is officinal. Taste sweet. Nature warm. Non-poisonous. Pie lu:—The shu is also called (jj 5jj: shan kiang (mountain ginger) and [Jj shan lien. It grows in the mountain valleys of Cheng shan and Nan cheng in Han chung [in Southern Slien si, App. 16, 226, 54]. The root is dug up in the 2nd, 3rd, 8th and 9th months and dried in the sun. Wu P‘u [3rd cent.]:—The shu is also called |lj shan kie (mountain mustard) and ^ ^1] tHen ki (heavenly thistle). T‘ao Hung-king :—Cheng shan and Nan cheng (the localities mentioned in the Pie lu) are identical. The shu is a common plant. The best drug comes from the mountains Tsiang shan [unknown to me. App. 351], Pai shan and Mao shan [both in Kiang su, App. 238, 218]. The root is dug up in the 11th and 12th months. At this time of the year it is very fat (resinous), and sweet. From the leaves a pleasant fragrant beverage is made. There are two kinds of shu. One of them is the Silt pai shu (white shu or shu simply so called). Its leaves are large, covered with hair and lobed. Its root is sweet, contains little resin, is used in the form of pills and powder. The other kind is the ^ Tjh chli shu or red shu. It has small leaves, not lobed. The root is small and of a bitter taste, contains much resin. It is used in a fried state. That brought from the eastern frontier is large, not strong, and is not much used. Su Sung [lltli cent.]:—The shu is a common plant. The best drug comes from Mao shan [v. supra'] and Sung shan [in IIo nan, App. 317]. The plant grows from two to three feet high. In summer it opens its violet flowers