Bitter Bamboo Root, a traditional Chinese medicine, refers to the rhizome of the grass family plant Bitter Bamboo. It is distributed in Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and other regions. It has the effects of clearing heat, relieving restlessness, and eliminating phlegm. It is commonly used for fever, irritability, and cough with yellow phlegm.
[Characteristics of Bitter Bamboo Root]
Bitter Bamboo, also known as Umbrella Stem Bamboo, grows up to 3-5 meters tall with a diameter of 1.5-2 centimeters. The stem is erect with a wall thickness of about 6 millimeters. The young stem is light green with white powder, gradually turning green-yellow with gray-white spots as it ages.
The sheath is leathery, green, covered with thick white powder. The upper part has orange-yellow to dry brown edges, no hair on the back or with brown-red or white tiny hairs, easily shed, and densely covered with brown thorns at the base. The edges are densely covered with golden-yellow fibers.
The leaf blade is elliptic-lanceolate, 4-20 centimeters long and 1.2-2.9 centimeters wide, with a short acuminate apex and a wedge-shaped or broad wedge-shaped base. The lower surface is light green with white hairs, especially at the base, with 4-8 secondary veins, clear minor veins, and fine serrations on both sides of the leaf margin. The leaf stalk is about 2 millimeters long.
The inflorescence is a spike or a panicle, with 3-6 spikelets, laterally produced at each node of the main or lateral branches, surrounded by one bract at the base. The spikelet stalk is covered with fine hairs. The anthers are pale yellow, about 5 millimeters long. The ovary is narrow, about 2 millimeters long, hairless, slightly triangular in the upper part, and the stigma is short with feathery appearance.
The mature fruit is not observed. The shooting period is in June, and the flowering period is in April-May.
[Habitat]
It grows on sunny slopes or plains, mostly cultivated. It is distributed in Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and other regions.
