Chinese Herbs. John D. Keys
long. The taste is bitter. The drug contains asparagin, starch, sucrose, and mucilage.140 Used as diuretic and expectorant. Dose, 5-10 gm.
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FRITILLARIA VERTICILLATA Willd. (Liliaceae) |
| A bulbous perennial. Bulb with 2 thick scales, orbicular. Stem 30-60 cm. Leaves verticillate, 6-12 mm. long by 2-5 mm. wide, the superior leaves curled at the tips like tendrils. Flowers axillary, solitary, drooping; pedicel short; perianth campanulate, in 6 segments, greenish yellow with purplish spots; style barely longer than the ovary; stigmas 3. Fruit a capsule, 6-lobed, winged. Central China, Japan. (Syn. F. thunbergii Miq., F. collicola Hance., Uvularia cirrhosa Thunb.) The bulbs are used medicinally, occurring in the Chinese pharmacy as white fragments 4.5 cm. long. They contain the alkaloids verticin (C18H33NO2 or C19H35NO2; m.p. 224A°), verticillin (C19H33NO2; m.p. 149-150A°), fritillin (C25H41 NO3 • H2O; m.p. 214A°), and fritillarin (C19H33NO2; m.p. 130-131A°). The alkaloids are toxic, inducing paralysis of the central nervous system, with inhibition of respiratory and autonomic functions; the action upon respiratory movement is similar to that of morphine; lethal doses produce cardio-inhibition and hypotension.119 Used as antitussive and expectorant in chronic trachitis, bronchitis, bronchial asthma. Dose, 5-10 gm. (Also used, F. roylei Hook., F. maximowiczii Freyn) |
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SMILAX CHINA L. (Liliaceae) |
| China root. A climbing shrub, the stem provided with thorns. Leaves alternate, oval or orbiculate, 0.6 cm. long, cartilaginous and shiny, with tendrils at the base of the petiole. Flowers small, very numerous, in axillary umbels, solitary, dioecious, yellow green; summer. Perianth in 6 free segments. In the male flower, 6 stamens; in the female, 6 staminodes. Ovary 3-celled. Fruit a berry, red at maturity, spherical. China, Taiwan, Korea, eastern India, Nepal. (Syn. S. ferox Wall, S. japonica A. Gray, Coprosmanthus japonicus Kunth.) The roots are officinal, occurring in pieces 15-20 cm. long, 4-5 cm. thick, generally flat, more or less gnarled, brown on the outside, pinkish white inside, the texture sometimes light and spongy, sometimes compact and very hard, sometimes resinous. The drug is odorless and slightly bitter. It contains the crystalline saponin smilacin (C45H74O17; soluble in water and hot alcohol), tannin, and resin.151 Employed as alterative and diuretic in syphilis, gout, skin disorders, rheumatism. (In Japan, Heterosmilax japonica Kunth. is used.) |
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LIRIOPE SPICATA Lour. (Liliaceae) |
| Creeping lily-turf. A perennial herb with a short, thick root-stock. Leaves bushy, stiff, 30 cm. long by 5 mm. wide. Floral stalk simple, rigid, angular, greenish violet, longer than the leaves. Flowers terminal, violet-blue, showy; September. Pedicel rarely solitary, slightly longer than the flowers, erect, articulate with the flowers; bracts herbaceous, acuminate; perianth in 6 segments, free, regular; stamens 6, shorter than the perianth; ovary orbiculate, depressed. Fruit a blue berry, ovoid-subglobular; seeds few. China, Japan. (Syn. L. graminifolia Bak., Draceana graminifolia L., Convallaria spicata Thunb., Fluggea spicata Schult, Ophiopogon japonicus Wall., Oph. longifolius Decne., Oph. spicatus Ker-Gawl., Oph. gracilus Kunth.) The rhizomes are used, occurring as oblong, 4 cm. long, 5 mm. in diameter, light yellow. They contain mucilage.140 Used as antitussive, expectorant, and emollient. Dose, 5-10 gm. |
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PARIS POLYPHYLLA Smith (Liliaceae) |
| A perennial plant with annulate root. Stem 75-90 cm. high. Leaves verticillate 4-9, petiolate, oblong or lanceolate, acuminate, generally rounded at the base, 7.5-15.0 cm. long. Perianth in 4-7 segments; the exterior segments oval-lanceolate, acuminate, green; the interior segments filiform, yellow. Stamens fairly numerous; ovary nearly globular. Fruit a green capsule, glabrous, 6 cm. in diameter, valves 3-6; seeds elongate, ovoid, scarlet. China, Himalayas. The roots occur in the pharmacy in pieces 4 cm. long, curved, with numerous purplish brown rootlets, the exterior nearly black, the interior pinkish. They contain 7.9% sucrose, the crystalline glycoside paridine, and the amorphous glycoside paris-typhnine.151 The physiological action of the amorphous glycoside is considerable, being analagous to that of paraptiphnine isolated from P. quadrifolia,27 The drug is poisonous. Employed as antipyretic, antispasmodic in typhoid fever, encephalitis, meningitis. Dose, 1-3 gm. as powder, 5-7 gm. in decoction. |
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POLYGONATUM CIRRHIFOLIUM Royle (Liliaceae) |
| A perennial herb with thick, branching rootstocks. Stem supple, undulate, 6-12 cm. tall. Leaves alternate, sessile, membranous, oblong, acuminate, 7.5-12.0 cm. long. Flowers axillary, grouped in twos or fours; perianth nearly cylindrical, white, greenish or purple; limb in 6 lobes; ovary 3-celled. Fruit a globular berry of variable size. Northern China, Himalayas. (Syn. P. chinense Kunth., P. sibiricum Baker., Convallaria cirrhifolia Wall) "The root is soft, of a yellow color, its lower part red. It has some resemblance to young ginger root, is very sweet and of a pleasant taste. It is dug up in the second month, boiled, and dried in the sun."142 The root is used as tonic. Dose, 7-10 gm. |
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POLYGONATUM OFFICINALE All. (Liliaceae) |
| Solomon's seal. A perennial herb, the stem simple, erect, angular, 25-50 cm. tall. Leaves alternate, nearly sessile, oval or oblong. Flowers greenish white, odoriferous, in clusters hanging from short peduncles; April-May. Perianth with cylindrical tube and limb in 6 lobes, 2 cm. long by 5-8 mm. across, attenuate at the base; ovary 3-celled. Fruit a globular berry; seeds few. Northwestern China, Asia, Europe. (Syn. P. vulgare Desf., Convallariapolygonatum L.) The rhizomes occur as pieces 14-15 cm. long by 15 cm. wide, pale yellow, translucid, articulate, fleshy. The taste is sweetish. The drug contains the glycosides convallarin (C34H62O11; yellowish white amorphous powder; taste acrid; soluble in alcohol, insoluble in water) and convallamarin (C23H44O12; yellowish amorphous powder; taste bitter; soluble in water and dilute alcohol), and a large amount of mucilage.140 The cardiac action of convallamarin is analogous to that of digitalis; it stimulates the appetite without impairing digestion, increases peristalsis without producing catharsis, slows the heart and raises the arterial tension, slows and deepens respiration; convallarin is a drastic purgative in 3-grain doses.150 Prescribed as tonic. Dose, 5-10 gm. |
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