What is the difference between Lingcao and Lingxiangcao? A quick guide to tell them apart

Lingcao is actually licorice (Glycyrrhiza) in everyday life, and records of its medicinal use date back more than 2,000 years; Lingxiangcao, also known as Xiangcao, Peilan, Paicao, etc., was first recorded by name in the Jiayou Bencao during the Jiayou era of the Song Dynasty, and was often used as a spice in ancient China. Both have numerous related records in traditional Chinese medicine, which leads many people to confuse these two medicinal herbs, so what is the difference between licorice and Lingxiangcao?

1. The difference between Lingcao and Lingxiangcao

Lingcao, namely licorice, is a perennial herb in the Fabaceae family, genus Glycyrrhiza, with its roots and rhizomes used as medicine, and it is one of the most commonly used drugs in clinical practice. Raw licorice can clear heat and detoxify, moisten the lungs and stop coughing, and harmonize the properties of other medicines; processed licorice can tonify the spleen and boost qi, and its clinical dosage is especially large. Lingxiangcao, by contrast, is mainly used as a spice to prevent insect damage, and in traditional Chinese medicine it is mainly used to treat cold damage, remove heat, stop diarrhea, treat toothache and head heat in children, and nasal congestion, among others.

Licorice and Lingxiangcao also differ greatly in appearance. The roots and rhizomes of licorice are thick, 1-3 cm in diameter, brown on the outside and pale yellow inside, and taste sweet when eaten. The stems of licorice are upright, 30-120 cm tall, and the leaves are 5-20 cm long. Lingxiangcao, however, is 20-60 cm tall and has a rich fragrance after drying; the older the plant, the more its stems creep along the ground and send out many slender fibrous roots, and the stems produced in the current year are a monopodial extension of the old stems.

2. Growing habits of Lingcao and Lingxiangcao

In China, licorice is mainly distributed in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, Shuozhou in Shanxi, and other places, mostly as wild plants, though it is also cultivated, mainly in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, the Hexi Corridor in Gansu, the area around Longxi, and parts of Ningxia. Globally, it is distributed in Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas. Licorice mostly grows in arid and semi-arid sandy soil, desert edges, and loess hilly areas, and it prefers habitats with ample light, relatively low rainfall, scorching summers, severe winters, and large diurnal temperature differences.

Lingxiangcao, however, is mainly distributed in China in southeastern Yunnan, Guangxi, northern Guangdong, and southwestern Hunan, with few distributions abroad; apart from India, it is not found in other countries. Lingxiangcao likes to grow in humus soil by mountain valley streams and under forest at an altitude of 800-1700 m, and it prefers moisture and fertility, growing well under broad-leaved forest at a relative humidity of 60-80%.

That is all for Lingcao and Lingxiangcao. Friends who are interested can also learn more by further consulting relevant ancient texts.