The Hand-Leafed Silkworm is a medicinal herb with excellent medicinal value. The entire plant can be used as medicine. So what is the difference between Hand-Leafed Silkworm and Silkworm? Let me explain it to you.
Introduction of Hand-Leafed Silkworm
The Hand-Leafed Silkworm is an annual erect herb, 20-60 centimeters tall, with no or few hairs. The stem is single, rarely branched.
The leaves are membranous, with sparse soft hairs on both sides. The lower leaves of the stem are ovate to regular triangular, 1.5-3 centimeters long and 1-3 centimeters wide, with a rounded apex, a truncate or nearly cordate base. The upper part of the stem is palmately divided, with 3 leaflets, rarely 5 leaflets. The middle leaflet is rhombic-ovate or lanceolate, gradually pointed at the apex, and wedge-shaped at the base, 4-8 centimeters long and 1.5-3 centimeters wide. The other leaflets are slightly smaller, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, oblique at the base, and all have coarse teeth on the edge.
The petiole is 2-4 centimeters long, and some of the lower ones are over 4 centimeters long. The inflorescence is terminal, 4-6 centimeters long, with micro-hairs, and the lower umbel-like inflorescence has 6 flowers per whorl, while the upper part has 2 flowers per whorl. The terminal flower is sterile. The pedicel is 3-4 millimeters long. The bracts are lanceolate, and the small bracts are very small and fall off early.
The calyx is bell-shaped, 5 millimeters long and wide, with 3 upper lobes and lanceolate-triangular shape, and 2 lower lobes and lanceolate shape. The calyx tube is 2 millimeters long. The corolla is white, sparsely hairy, more than twice as long as the calyx. The lip of the corolla is bilabiate, with 2 lobes on the upper lip in the shape of an ovate-triangular, and 3 lobes on the lower lip, with the middle lobe being spoon-shaped and three times as long as the lateral lobes, which are ovate.
The stamens are as long as the corolla, with kidney-shaped anthers. The disc is entire. The ovary is hairless. The small nutlet is light chestnut, 2-2.3 millimeters long. The flowering period is from July to August, and the fruiting period is from August to October.
Introduction of Silkworm
The plant is 10-25 centimeters tall. The rhizome elongates and creeps, with nodes. The stem is erect, with (2-)3-4 leaves near the base.
The leaves are ovate or ovate-oblong, thick and fleshy when fresh, 3-7 centimeters long and 1.7-3 centimeters wide, with an acute or short-pointed apex. The upper surface is dark green with 5 shiny reddish-gold veins, and the lower surface is pale red, with a petiole 1.5-2.2 centimeters long, which expands into a sheath that embraces the stem at the base.
There are 2-3 pale red sheath-like bracts above the leaves on the stem. The inflorescence is terminal, with several to more than 10 flowers, 3-8 centimeters long, with a short hairy inflorescence axis. The bracts are ovate or ovate-lanceolate, pale red, membranous, about 1.5 centimeters long, gradually pointed at the apex, and with fine hairy edges. The ovary is cylindrical, twisted, covered with short hairs, and the pedicel is 1.5-2 centimeters long. The flowers are white or pale red, with a diameter of about 7 millimeters.
The sepals are ovate-elliptic, concave and boat-shaped, 8-9 millimeters long and 4.5-5 millimeters wide, and fused with the petals to form a hood-like shape. The lateral sepals are oblique-ovate or nearly elliptic, 9-10 millimeters long and 4.5-5 millimeters wide, with short keel-like protuberances at the front end on the back. The petals are nearly half-ovate, 8-9 millimeters long and 2-2.2 millimeters wide, with a blunt apex.
The lip is 9-10 millimeters long, fused with the lower half of the style to form a tube, with a pouch at the base. The middle part is usually twisted and slightly enlarged, 2 millimeters wide, and the top part is expanded into a horizontally elongated rectangular piece, 5-6 millimeters wide. The pouch at the base of the lip is shallowly lobed and contains two fleshy calluses. The style is about 5 millimeters long, slender at the lower part and enlarged at the top. There is one stigma below the anther. The flowering period is from February to April.
