Nepenthes, a traditional Chinese medicine, is the whole plant of Nepenthes, a species of plant in the family Solanaceae. It is also known as Nepenthes fruit, explosive radish, lantern bubble, ghost lantern, water lantern, bitter lantern, heavenly bubble fruit, ringing bell, ground lantern, mother cannon grass, and cannonball grass.
Nepenthes image
【Source of Medicinal Material】
Nepenthes is the whole plant of Nepenthes.
【Properties and Channels】
Nepenthes tastes bitter and has a cooling nature.
1. "Lu Chuan Ben Cao": "It is sweet and slightly cold."
2. "Nanning Pharmacopoeia": "It is bitter, cold, and slightly sweet."
【Plant Morphology】
Nepenthes is a perennial herbaceous plant that grows up to 45-90cm in height. It has creeping rhizomes and erect stems with short soft hairs. The leaves are alternate or clustered in pairs; petioles are 2-5cm long and densely covered in soft hairs;
The leaf blades are ovate to elongate-ovate, measuring 6-15cm in length and 4-10cm in width. They have a short acuminate apex, a symmetric heart-shaped base, entire margins or a few indistinct pointed teeth, and are covered in soft hairs on both sides. The flowers are solitary and axillary, with a stalk about 1.5cm long;
The calyx is broadly campanulate, green, and 5-lobed with lanceolate lobes and short pubescence; the corolla is broadly campanulate, measuring 1.2-1.5cm in length, yellow, with purple markings in the throat, and 5-lobed with nearly triangular lobes;
There are 5 stamens attached near the base of the corolla, with blue-purple filaments and anthers; the pistil is superior, with 2-3 locules. The fruit is a spherical capsule, surrounded by the enlarged calyx but separate from it. The seeds are yellow and disc-shaped. It flowers and bears fruit in summer.
