The fruit of the Coriaria nepalensis (Chinese coriaria) turns from bright red to purplish black, tastes sweet with a slight astringency, and is highly poisonous; never eat it by mistake.

Coriaria nepalensis fruit

Coriaria nepalensis fruit, also known as poison empty wood, water coriaria, duck-feed wood, chicken-plague firewood, and horse saddle, among other names, is a plant of the family Coriariaceae, growing on hillsides or in mountain gullies, and is commonly seen in the southern provinces of our country. The Coriaria nepalensis fruit is pea-sized, round and fleshy, and green when unripe.

It is commonly a shrub, and is occasionally found in tree form in Lichuan, Hubei; the branches spread horizontally, the branchlets are four-angled or form four narrow wings, and it ripens from May to June each year, first bright red, then gradually turning purplish black; it tastes sweet with a slight astringency and is highly poisonous, and is often picked and eaten by mistake by children, causing poisoning and even death.

Alternative names

Ma Sang (Sichuan): Qian Nian Hong, Ma An Zi, Shui Ma Sang, Ye Ma Sang (Yunnan), Ma Sang Chai (Guiyang), Wu Long Xu, Zui Yu Er, Nao Yu Er (Chengdu), Hei Long Xu, Hei Hu Da Wang (Qujing, Yunnan), Zi Sang (Wenshan, Yunnan)

Morphological characteristics

It is commonly a shrub, and is occasionally found in tree form in Lichuan, Hubei; the branches spread horizontally, the branchlets are four-angled or form four narrow wings, the young branches are sparsely covered with fine soft hairs, later becoming hairless, often tinged purple, and the old branches are purplish brown with conspicuous round raised lenticels;

The bud scales are membranous, ovate or ovate-triangular, mm long, purplish red, and hairless.

The leaves are opposite, papery to thinly leathery, elliptic or broadly elliptic, 2.5-8 cm long, 5-4 cm wide, with an acute apex and a rounded base, entire, hairless on both surfaces or sparsely hairy along the veins, with 3 basal veins curving toward the apex, slightly sunken on the upper surface and raised on the lower surface;

The leaves have short petioles, 2-3 mm long, sparsely hairy, purple, with a cushion-like protuberance at the base.

The inflorescences are borne on two-year-old branches; the male inflorescence opens before the leaves, 1.5-2.5 cm long, densely many-flowered, and the rachis is covered with glandular soft hairs; the bracts and bracteoles are ovate-round, about 2.5 mm long and about 2 mm wide, membranous, semi-transparent, concave, with fringed fine teeth on the upper margin;

The pedicels are about 1 mm long and hairless; the sepals are ovate, 1.5-2 mm long and 1-1.5 mm wide, with semi-transparent margins and fringed fine teeth on the upper part;

The petals are very small, ovate, about 0.3 mm long, and keeled inside;

The stamens are 10; the filaments are linear, about 1 mm long, elongating at flowering to 3-3.5 mm; the anthers are oblong, about 2 mm long, with fine warty bodies, the connective is protruding, and the base of the anther is shortly tailed; sterile pistils are present; the female inflorescence emerges together with the leaves, 4-6 cm long, and the rachis is covered with glandular fine soft hairs;

The bracts are slightly larger, about 4 mm long, tinged purple; the pedicels are 1.5-2.5 mm long; the sepals are the same as those of the male flowers;

The petals are fleshy, relatively small, and keeled; the stamens are shorter, with filaments about 0.5 mm long and anthers about 0.8 mm long; the carpels are 5, ear-shaped, about 0.7 mm long and about 0.5 mm wide, laterally flattened, with styles about 1 mm long bearing small warty bodies, and the upper part of the stigma bends outward, is purplish red, and bears many small warty bodies.

The fruit is spherical; during fruiting the petals become fleshy and enlarge to enclose the fruit, turning from red to purplish black when ripe, 4-6 mm in diameter; the seeds are ovate-oblong.

Distribution range

Produced in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Xizang. Distributed in India and Nepal.

Growth environment

It grows in shrublands at an altitude of 400-3200 m.

Medicinal information

The main components contained in the Coriaria nepalensis fruit are coriamyrtin, hydroxycoriamyrtin, and hydrocoriamyrtin, among others; its toxicology is similar to that of picrotoxin, and even stronger. It causes a series of poisoning symptoms such as excitement, spasms, and vomiting by stimulating the cerebral cortex, and frequent tonic convulsions can lead to cerebral edema, respiratory failure, and other conditions, while other organs such as the lungs, liver, heart, and kidneys are also damaged.

The incubation period of Coriaria nepalensis fruit poisoning is from half an hour to three hours. The main symptoms of poisoning are headache, dizziness, chest tightness, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, which can often recover on their own. In severe cases, there is numbness all over the body, slowed heartbeat, rising blood pressure, constricted pupils, increased respiration, and enhanced reflexes, often with a sudden cry followed by fainting, and then paroxysmal convulsions, during the intervals of which the patient's consciousness may be semi-alert or drowsy. If restlessness and clutching at the chest with both hands are seen, these are precursors of another convulsion. Generally, after the convulsions stop, consciousness gradually becomes clear and recovers, returning to normal after 2-3 days. In severe cases, breathing may finally stop after repeated recurrent convulsions. In those who take a large amount at one time, cardiac arrest may be caused by excessive excitation of the vagus nerve center.

Once poisoning occurs, parents should immediately induce vomiting, then take 10 g of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), dissolve it in warm boiled water, and administer it by gavage; egg white may also be used by gavage, and severe cases should be sent to the hospital immediately for treatment.

Although the Coriaria nepalensis tree is poisonous, goats rather like to eat it, including the flower clusters and fruits, and show no signs of poisoning. It grows rapidly, and the more it is cut, the faster new branches sprout, making it suitable for herdsmen to plant in large quantities; in the Yangtze River basin area it basically does not reach the dead-leaf stage in winter. According to older sheep herders, the nutritional value of Coriaria nepalensis leaves and fruits is very high, and sheep that eat them fatten quickly and weigh heavily when slaughtered.

Main value

The fruit can be used to make alcohol. The seeds can be pressed for oil, which can be used for paint and printing ink. The stems and leaves can be used to extract tannin extract. The whole plant contains coriaria alkaloid, is poisonous, and can be used as a crude pesticide.