Chinese medicine Chishangsan is the whole herb of the Polygonaceae plant Polygonum taeniotum or Polygonum vaccinifolium. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that Chishangsan has the effects of clearing heat, detoxifying, promoting blood circulation, and reducing swelling!
[What does Chishangsan look like?]
1. Chishangsan
A perennial or annual herb, 30-50cm tall. The rhizome is slender and yellow, and the fibrous roots are dark brown. The stem is slender, erect or oblique, slightly branched, purple, with nodes or covered with fine white hairs, or nearly hairless.
Leaves are opposite; petiole is short, winged, with leaf auricles at the base, and the upper leaves are nearly sessile; stipules are sheath-like, membranous, up to 1cm long, with hairy or hairless edges; leaf blades are ovate, pinnately lobed, 5-8cm long, 3-8cm wide;
The terminal lobes are larger, triangular-ovate, gradually pointed at the apex, and the lateral lobes are 1-3 pairs, nearly truncate at the base, hairless or hairy on both sides, with purple-black spots on the upper surface, and fine marginal hairs.
The heads are clustered at the top of the branches, usually in pairs, with glandular hairs on the peduncle; the calyx is 5-lobed, pink, and green along the dorsal side;
Stamens are 8, with shorter filaments than the calyx; stigma is spherical and 3-lobed. The fruit is ovoid, with 3 ribs, blackish-brown with fine dots. Blooms from July to August.
2. Polygonum taeniotum
The main difference between this variety and Chishangsan is that the heads are smaller, with a diameter of 5-7mm, and several are clustered into a conical shape. The leaf base usually has 1 pair of lobes, and both sides are hairless or sparsely covered with soft hairs.
[Habitat and Distribution of Chishangsan]
1. Ecological environment
(1) It grows in shady and moist places such as roadsides, ditches, and grassy areas.
(2) It grows in the understory of mountain slopes below 3000m in altitude. Also found in valley grasslands.
2. Distribution
(1) It is distributed in Southwest China, as well as Shaanxi, Gansu, Taiwan, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, and Tibet.
(2) It is distributed in Southwest China, as well as Shaanxi, Gansu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, and Tibet.
