Adenophora stricta

Background

Chinese Name (pinyin): Nanshashen

Chinese Name  :

Common Name  :Fourleaf ladybell Root

Specific Name  : Radix adenophorae

Scientific Name:
Collection  : The drug is collected in spring and autumn. Remove from rootlets, washed, deprived of the coarse bark while still fresh, wash again and dried

Description  : Conical or cylindrical, slightly curved, 7 - 27 cm long, 0.8 - 3 cm in diameter. Externally yellowish white or pale brownish yellow, usually exhibiting patches of bark in depressions, mostly with deeply depressed transverse striations appearing interrupted-annulated at the upper part with longitudinal striations and furrows at the lower part. Apex bearing one or two rhizomes. Texture light and spongy, easily broken, fracture uneven, yellowish white, much cleft, odourless, taste sweetish

Identification  : Heat 2 g of the coarse powder in 20 ml of water on a water bath for 10 minutes and filter. To 2 ml of the filtrate add 2 - 3 drops of 5% solution of a-naphthol in ethanol, mix well and add 0.5 ml of sulfuric acid slowly along the tube wall, a purplish red ring produced at the junction of the liquids. Heat 2 ml of the filtrate with 4 - 5 drops of alkaline cupric tartrate TS on a water bath for 5 minutes, a red precipitate of cuprous oxide is produced.

Processing  : Remove rhizomes, wash and soften thoroughly. Cut into thick slices and dry.

Action  : To nourish yin and remove heat from the lung, to relieve phlegm, and to reinforce qi.

Indication  :

Precautions  : Incompatible with Rhizoma et Radix Veratri.

Dosage  : 9 to 15 g.

Storage  : Preserve in a ventilated dry place, protected from moth.