What is the difference between Caoheche and Quanshen? A quick guide to telling the two medicinal herbs apart

Caoheche is Quanshen; the two are different names for the same variety, mainly produced in North China, Northwest China, Shandong, Jiangsu, Hubei and other places. It is harvested before sprouting in spring or when the aboveground parts wither in autumn.

I. Morphological characteristics

Perennial herb. Rhizome thick, 1-3 cm in diameter, curved, dark brown. Stem erect, 50-90 cm tall, unbranched, hairless, usually 2-3 stems emerging from the rhizome. Basal leaves broadly lanceolate or narrowly ovate, papery, 4-18 cm long, 2-5 cm wide; apex acuminate or acute, base truncate or nearly cordate, decurrent along the petiole to form wings, both surfaces hairless or the lower surface pubescent, margin revolute, slightly wavy, petiole 10-20 cm long; cauline leaves lanceolate or linear, sessile; ocrea tubular, membranous, green in the lower part, brown in the upper part, apex oblique, splitting to the middle, without cilia. Achene elliptic, pointed at both ends, brown, glossy, about 3.5 mm long, slightly longer than the persistent perianth. Flowering period June-July, fruiting period August-September.

II. Main value

Efficacy: clears heat and calms convulsions, dries dampness and reduces swelling.

Indications: treats convulsions in febrile disease, tetanus, bloody dysentery, carbuncle swelling, scrofula. Clears heat and drains dampness; cools blood and stops bleeding; resolves toxin and dissipates nodules. Mainly for lung-heat cough; convulsions in febrile disease; bloody dysentery; heat diarrhea; hematemesis; epistaxis; bleeding hemorrhoids; carbuncle swelling and sores.

III. Medicinal formulas

1. Quanshen decoction: treats chronic cough due to yin deficiency, pulmonary tuberculosis, and wheezing cough. Quanshen 9 g, honeyed lily 9 g, adenophora root 6 g, honey-fried licorice 6 g, decocted in water. In the formula, Quanshen clears heat and resolves toxin, astringes and drains dampness, and acts as the sovereign drug.

2. Cold and fever-clearing granules: treats upper respiratory tract infection, acute tonsillitis, and pharyngitis. The main ingredients are dyers woad leaf, isatis root, Quanshen, and forsythia, taken orally dissolved in boiling water, 18-36 g each time, 3 times a day. In the formula, Quanshen clears heat and resolves toxin, astringes and drains dampness, and reduces swelling, and acts as the sovereign drug.

3. Treats enteritis and dysentery with red and white discharge: Quanshen 30 g, decocted in water. In the formula, Quanshen clears heat and resolves toxin, astringes and drains dampness, reduces swelling and stops bleeding, and acts as the sovereign drug.