Wild Notoginseng

Wild Notoginseng

　　Notoginseng is also known as: wild notoginseng, drought notoginseng, blood mountain herb, June dew, scorpion grass.

The dried whole plant has greenish stems that are brittle and hollow in the middle. The leaves are wrinkled, grayish-green on both sides but mostly fallen off. It is odorless with a slightly astringent taste. Some specimens include roots. The best quality is characterized by a green color, dryness, and freedom from impurities. The rhizome is short and slightly blocky. There are several roots of varying thicknesses, with a grayish-brown surface, hard texture, and a dark brown or grayish-white cross-section. The lateral roots are cylindrical or slightly conical. They are not easy to dry, becoming loose and dark brown when dried, with an uneven and flaky surface. The stem is cylindrical, 30–50 cm long, with a dark brown or purplish-brown surface; it is brittle and easily broken, showing a hollow interior when cut. The leaves are wrinkled, often fallen off, alternate or nearly opposite, and when flattened, they are narrowly ovate-lanceolate, grayish-green or brownish. The cyme is terminal, with yellow flowers. It has a faint scent and a slightly astringent taste.

Notoginseng is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Crassulaceae family, Sedum genus, growing 30–80 cm tall. The stem is erect, unbranched, solitary or growing in clusters. The simple leaves are alternate, thick, narrowly ovate-lanceolate, 5–8 cm long, 1–2 cm wide, tapering to a point at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, with serrated edges, and almost no petiole. The cymes are corymbose, terminal; the sepals are green, linear-lanceolate, unequal in length, 3–5 mm long, and blunt at the tip; the petals are yellow, elliptic-lanceolate, 6–10 mm long; the stamens are shorter than the petals; the carpels are obovate-oblong, basally connate, with blister-like protrusions on the ventral side. The follicles mature and spread outward, arranged in a star-like pattern. Flowering period is June to August. Fruiting period is July to September.