Rowan Red is also known as Cat Autumn Grass, Maozi Tree, Fine Leaf Winter Green, Small Leaf Winter Green, Fine Hair Full Winter, and Ulcer Grass. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that Rowan Red has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, cooling blood and stopping bleeding. It is mainly used to treat burns, tooth decay, ulcers, and external bleeding.
Picture of Rowan Red
Rowan Red is a deciduous shrub, 1-3 meters tall; the bark is gray; the young branches of the year have longitudinal grooves, and the branches of the second year are nearly cylindrical, covered with long, stiff hairs or nearly hairless, and have obvious lenticels.
The leaf blades are membranous, elliptical, rarely ovate or inverted ovate, 2-9 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, gradually pointed at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, densely covered with sharp serrations on the edges, gray-olive when dry, the midrib is raised on both sides, 6-8 pairs of lateral veins, not obvious on the leaf surface, prominent on the back, covered with long, stiff hairs or nearly hairless along the veins on both sides; leaf stalks are 6-8 mm long, with deep grooves on the upper side, covered with long, stiff hairs or becoming hairless.
Picture of Rowan Red
The male inflorescences of Rowan Red are 2 or 3 dichotomous or trichotomous umbels, solitary in the leaf axils, with 9-21 flowers, the peduncle is 3 mm long, the secondary axis is about 1.5 mm long, the pedicel is 2-2.5 mm long, all covered with soft hairs, the basal bracts are basal, triangular; flowers in groups of 4 or 5, the calyx is saucer-shaped, 1.5-2 mm in diameter, the lobes are triangular, covered with long, stiff hairs and marginal hairs.
The corolla is radiate, about 4.5 mm in diameter, the petals are narrowly elliptical, slightly connate at the base, dentate on the edges, without marginal hairs; the stamens are slightly shorter than the petals, the anthers are oblong; the sterile ovary is narrowly conical, abruptly pointed at the apex, and hairless.
Picture of Rowan Red
The female inflorescences of Rowan Red are umbels with 1-3 flowers, solitary in the leaf axils, rarely clustered, the peduncle is nearly absent or up to 1.5 mm long, the pedicel is 2-3 mm long, with 4-6 flowers; the calyx is the same as the male flowers; the petals are ovate, serrated; the degenerated stamens are half the length of the petals, and the sterile anthers are arrow-shaped; the ovary is ovoid, 1.5 mm in diameter, with a disc-shaped stigma.
The fruit is solitary or 2-3 clustered in an umbel-like arrangement in the leaf axils, the fruit stalk is 2-2.5 cm long, covered with long, stiff hairs; the fruit is spherical, 5 mm in diameter, red when ripe, the persistent calyx is spreading, nearly circular, 5 or 6 lobed, the lobes are round, covered with long, stiff hairs and marginal hairs, the persistent stigma is disc-shaped, and 5 or 6 shallowly lobed.
Picture of Rowan Red
The seeds of Rowan Red are divided into 4 or 5, rarely 6, wide-elliptical, 2-2.5 mm long, 1-1.2 mm wide, smooth, without stripes or grooves, with a leathery endocarp. It flowers in May and fruits in October.
