What types of adenophora are there and how are they grown? With detailed pictures

Adenophora is a plant whose roots can be used as medicine, generally dried in the sun to make medicine; it is non-toxic and has effects such as clearing heat and moistening the lungs, and nourishing. Adenophora often grows in grass or rock crevices, and is relatively rare at high altitudes. So what types of adenophora are there? How are they grown? With pictures.

I. What types of adenophora are there?

1. Glehnia littoralis

Glehnia littoralis, also known as Laiyang ginseng, sea adenophora, silver adenophora, Liaoning adenophora, Su tiao shen, tiao shen, Bei tiao shen, etc., is the root of the umbellifer plant Glehnia littoralis. It has the effects of nourishing yin and clearing the lungs, and eliminating phlegm and relieving cough. It is used for symptoms such as dry cough due to lung heat, phlegm and blood from chronic cough, and thirst due to fluid damage in heat diseases. It is mainly produced in Shandong, Hebei, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia and other places.

2. Adenophora stricta

Adenophora stricta is the dried root of the Campanulaceae plant Adenophora verticillata or Adenophora stricta. Adenophora verticillata is produced in Northeast China, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, East China, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and other places, while Adenophora stricta is produced in Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan and other places. It has the effects of nourishing yin and clearing the lungs, benefiting the stomach and promoting fluid production, resolving phlegm, and supplementing qi. It is often used for symptoms such as dry cough due to lung heat, yin deficiency and chronic cough, dry cough with sticky phlegm, insufficient stomach yin, poor appetite and vomiting, deficiency of qi and yin, and excessive heat and dry mouth.

3. Adenophora verticillata

This species differs from the previous two in that: the leaves are in whorls of 3-6, ovate to linear-lanceolate. The inflorescence branches are also often whorled; the disk is relatively short, 2-4 mm long, not more than 1 mm in diameter; the corolla is small, nearly tubular, slightly constricted at the mouth, with lobes about 2 mm long. The flowering period is July-September.

4. Adenophora hunanensis

This species differs from Adenophora stricta in that: the cauline leaves on the upper part of the stem are sessile or have only a short wedge-shaped petiole, the leaf base is often wedge-shaped and decurrent, and the basal leaves have long petioles. The inflorescence branches are stout, almost spreading or arcuately ascending; the calyx lobes are ovate to long ovate, widest in the middle and lower part, usually more or less overlapping, 1.5-4 mm wide; the disk is mostly hairy, rarely hairless; the style is as long as the corolla. The flowering period is July-September.

5. Adenophora potaninii

This species differs from the previous four in that: the stem is often densely covered with recurved short stiff hairs; the cauline leaves are sessile, very rarely with a short wedge-shaped petiole; the leaf blades are ovate-elliptic, oblong, narrowly elliptic and obovate, hairy on both sides, with 2 to several large coarse teeth on the margin. The inflorescence usually has branches at the base; the disk is hairy; the style is nearly as long as the corolla. The flowering period is July-October, and the fruiting period is October-November.

6. Adenophora khasiana

This species differs from the previous three in that: the cauline leaves are evenly distributed along the stem; they are often sessile, and the leaf blades are ovate to long ovate or obovate, sparsely covered with rough hairs above, densely covered with stiff hairs below or with stiff hairs only on the veins. False raceme; the disk is short and tubular, not more than 1 mm long; the calyx margin has 1-3 pairs of small teeth. The flowering period is August-October.

II. How is adenophora grown?

1. Autumn sowing: Use seeds collected in the same year. More than 20 days before sowing, moisten the seeds until the seed kernel becomes soft. Open furrows at a row spacing of 20 cm, 1.5 cm deep, evenly scatter the seeds into the furrows, cover with soil and seal tightly, press lightly, and water. When sowing in pure sandy land, to prevent the surface sandy soil from moving, spread a layer of small soil clods; before emergence the following spring, break up the unbroken clods so as not to hinder the seedlings from emerging.

2. Spring sowing: Newly harvested seeds are stored in sand in mid-November, that is, choose a shady place and dig a pit 30-40 cm deep (length and width depending on the amount of seeds), mix 1 part of moistened seeds with 3 parts of slightly moist fine sand, place them in the pit, cover with rice straw or a grass curtain, and cover with a layer of soil. Sow when the seeds are about to germinate the following year. If sowing dry seeds in spring, they need to be soaked for more than 20 days. The sowing rate is 6 kg per 667 sq m.

3. Seed reservation: Choose well-drained sandy loam soil to establish a seed field, apply sufficient base fertilizer, and add superphosphate. Select robust 1-year-old adenophora roots as seeds. In September, plant at a row spacing of 30 cm × 15 cm. After emergence the following spring, strengthen field management, and apply more nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer before flowering to promote full grains. The seeds mature in mid-July when the fruit turns yellow-brown.

4. Cultivation management

Cultivation and weeding: After emergence, cultivate and weed in time to preserve soil moisture, so as to promote seedling hardening. Because Glehnia littoralis is a densely planted crop, as the seedlings grow taller, the row spacing is small and the stems break easily, so it is not suitable to use a hoe for cultivation; an iron rake can be used to loosen the soil or pull weeds.

Thinning: Thin when the seedlings are 5 cm high, with a plant spacing of 3-5 cm. If too sparse, the roots tend to branch; if too dense, the seedlings grow weakly and are prone to disease.

Topdressing: When the seedlings are 10 cm high, apply 1 light application of diluted human and livestock manure water. In early July, mainly apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to promote root growth. Water once after fertilizing.