Shi Can, a Chinese herbal medicine, is the whole grass of the plant Dendrobium chrysotoxum, belonging to the Orchidaceae family. It is distributed in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Guangdong provinces in China. It has the effects of moistening the lungs, stopping cough, clearing heat, and cooling blood. It is mainly used to treat tuberculosis, cough, hemoptysis, whooping cough, and bronchitis.
Chinese medicine believes that Shi Can has the effects of moistening the lungs, stopping cough, clearing heat, and cooling blood. It is mainly used to treat tuberculosis, cough, hemoptysis, whooping cough, bronchitis, and can also be used to treat neurasthenia, loss of appetite, and joint pain.
The leaves of Shi Can are oval-shaped, 2-11.5 cm long and 1-5.5 cm wide, with short hairs along the veins on both sides. The leaf stalk is as long as the leaf blade. The inflorescence is a pseudo-panicle without hairs; the bracts are linear-lanceolate.
The corolla is white or pale red, with the corolla tube being 1/4 of the total length of the corolla and no hairs inside. The nutlets are fused and cover more than half of the fruit. The whole grass is 10-20 cm long.
The rhizome of Shi Can extends like a silkworm, fleshy, with a diameter of about 3 mm, gray-yellow on the surface, with longitudinal wrinkles, distinct nodes, and residual membranous or dried leaf sheaths. The roots of Shi Can are short, slightly stout, and covered with fine hair-like root hairs.
The leaves are opposite, papery, often curled, and become oval-shaped after being flattened, 2-5 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, gray-green or dark red; the leaf stalk extends into a membranous sheath, embracing the stem. It has a slight odor, a mild taste, and a slightly astringent sensation. The flowering and fruiting period is from July to October.
