What Is the Difference Between Shujincao and Shenjincao?
Shujincao is Lycopodium casuarinoides of the family Lycopodiaceae, a perennial climbing herbaceous plant that can reach 4 m in length. So do you know the difference between Shujincao and Shenjincao?
1. Differences Between Shujincao and Shenjincao
1. Morphology
Shujincao: the underground stem is long and creeping; the above-ground main stem is woody and vine-like, extending and climbing to several meters, cylindrical, about 2 mm in diameter, with sparse leaves; leaves are spirally arranged, appressed, ovate-lanceolate to subulate, 1.5-3.0 mm long, about 0.5 mm wide, with a protruding base, curved, sessile, tapering at the tip, with 1 membranous long awn 2-5 mm long or the awn shed.
Shenjincao: the creeping stem is slender and cylindrical, slightly curved, up to 2 m long, 1-3 mm in diameter, with yellowish-white fine roots beneath it. The upright stem branches dichotomously. Leaves are densely borne on the stem, spirally arranged, shrunken and curved, linear or needle-shaped, 3-5 mm long, yellow-green to pale yellow-brown, hairless, with an awn-like tip, entire, easily broken. The texture is soft; the cross-section shows a pale yellow bark and a whitish wood.
2. Growing Environment
Shujincao: grows under forests, at forest margins, under shrubs or by ditches at an altitude of 100-3100 m.
Shenjincao: grows in shaded places under open forests.
3. Distribution Range
Shujincao: produced in most provinces and regions of East China, South China, Central China and Southwest China. It is also distributed in other tropical and subtropical regions of Asia.
Shenjincao: distributed in Northeast China, East China, South China, Southwest China, as well as Inner Mongolia, Henan and other places. It is mainly produced in Zhejiang, Hubei, Jiangsu and other places, and is also produced in Hunan and Sichuan.
2. Effects of Shujincao
1. Relaxing Muscles and Activating Collaterals
Shujincao is used for wind-cold-damp arthralgia, and for spasms and painful swelling of the tendons and vessels. For external use, it treats swelling and pain from falls, blows, sprains and strains.
2. Lowering Blood Pressure
A water infusion of Shujincao has a cooling effect on experimental rabbits. Intravenous injection of 30 mg/kg of lycopodine can cause a sudden drop in blood pressure in anesthetized cats and rabbits; toxic doses can increase the respiratory amplitude of animals while reducing the frequency.
3. Traumatic Injuries
Shujincao, being pungent, can move and disperse to relax muscles and activate collaterals, reduce swelling and relieve pain, and treat traumatic injuries with blood stasis, swelling and pain. It is often combined with blood-activating and collateral-unblocking drugs such as sappanwood, ground beetle, safflower and peach kernel, and can be taken internally or used for external washing.
4. Treating Wind-Cold-Damp Arthralgia
Shujincao is pungent and dispersing, bitter and drying, and warm and unblocking; it can dispel wind-dampness, and when it enters the liver it is especially good at unblocking the meridians and collaterals. To treat wind-cold-damp arthralgia with sore joints and difficulty in bending and stretching, Shujincao can be combined with notopterygium root, pubescent angelica root, cassia twig and white peony root; if the limbs are weak and the skin is numb, Shujincao is best used together with pine node, Aristolochia mollissima and Clematis chinensis.
The above are the differences between Shujincao and Shenjincao. We hope this is helpful to everyone.