Characteristics and Cultivation Methods of Greenleaf Schisandra

Medicinal name: Greenleaf Schisandra

Aliases: Neifengxiao, Xiaoxueteng, Guoshanfeng, Zizuan, Fengshateng

Chinese pinyin: luyewuweizi

Latin botanical animal/mineral name: SchisandraviridisA.C.Smith

Efficacy: dispels wind and invigorates blood; moves qi and relieves pain

Family and genus classification: Schisandraceae

Indications: rheumatic bone pain; stomach pain; hernia pain; irregular menstruation; urticaria; herpes zoster

Ecological environment: grows in forests, on hillside roadsides and by mountain gullies and streams at 250-1200m.

Harvesting and storage: can be harvested throughout the year, sliced, sun-dried or used fresh.

Resource distribution: distributed in Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and other places.

Plant and animal morphology: deciduous vine. Except for the lower surface of young leaves being pubescent, the rest is glabrous. Young branches purple-brown, cylindrical, with fine ridges; old branches grayish-brown, peeling off in flakes. Leaves alternate, papery; petiole 1-4cm long; leaf blade ovate-elliptic, ovate or obovate, rarely lanceolate, usually widest below the middle, 4-16cm long, 2.5-8m wide, apex acuminate, base obtuse or cuneate, margin serrate or with sparse wavy teeth, entire near the base, upper surface green, lower surface light green, reticulate veins obvious on both sides. Flowers unisexual, dioecious, yellow, yellow-green or tinged with pink, tepals 6-7; stamens 10-20, borne on an obovate or nearly spherical receptacle; gynoecium elliptic, carpels 15-20, style inconspicuous. Aggregate fruit 4-5cm long, with 15-20 small berries. Seeds 1-2, kidney-shaped elliptic, seed coat with tubercles. Flowering period April-June, fruiting period June-October.

Efficacy classification: wind-dispelling and blood-invigorating drugs; qi-moving and pain-relieving drugs

Nature and flavor: pungent; warm in nature

Medicinal material source: the vine stem or root of the Schisandraceae plant Greenleaf Schisandra.

Usage and dosage: oral administration: decocted in water, 15-30g. External use: appropriate amount, decocted in water for washing; or pounded for topical application; or squeezed for juice to apply.

Source: "Chinese Materia Medica"