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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    T!AO Hung-ring :—It is a common plant in Mid China. The leaves resemble those of the tu jo [.Alpinia. See 55], the root resembles that of the ling [ Trapa. See 21)6]. It has hairs between the joints. It is not much used in medicine, but it is good for making paste. Han Pao-sheng [10th cent.]:—The pai Id is produced in Shen cliou [in Ho nan, App. 282]. The leaves resemble the young (unexpanded) leaves of the lsung (Chamcerops), also the leaves of the li lu (Veratruni). One stem shoots forth in the 3rd or 4th month and produces purple flowers. In the 7th month the fruit ripens and assumes a dirty colour. The root is white and resembles that of the Trapa and has three horns. From the top of the root the sprouts issue. The root is dug up in the 8th month. Su Sung [11th cent.]:—The plant is common in North and Mid China. It grows on rocks, one foot and more high. The leaves resemble palm-leaves, are as long as two fingers. It bears purple flowers in summer. Li Shi-chen :—Han Pao-sheng’s account of the plant is correct. It produces only one stem. The flowers are an inch long, of a reddish purple colour. The heart of the flower is like a tongue. The root resembles the Trapa. It h as a navel like the fa tsz‘ [Scirpits tuberosus. See Rli ya, 59] and is difficult to dry. C/i.. VIII, 12:—Pai Id. Representation of an Orclddea, probably Bletia hyacintldna. It is stated there that the viscid juice of the root is used in manufacturing porcelain. Tatar., Cat., 4:—Pai Id. Rad. Amomacece.—Gauger, who describes and figures the root [6], means that it belongs to an Orchid.—P. Smith, 13. The drug which I procured, under the name of pai hi from a Peking apothecary’s shop, agreed in shape with the above Chinese descriptions and seemed to bo the bulb of