MATERIA MEDICA OF THE ANCIENT CHINESE. 35 
Pie lu:—The wei juéi is also called 3 A vit chu (jade 
bamboo) and Hy Qf ti tsie (earth nodes). It grows in the 
valleys of the T‘ai shan mountain [in Shan tung, App. 322]. 
The root is dug up in the beginning of spring and dried in 
the sun. 
In the dictionary Shuo wen [A.D. 100] the plant is 
called 38 ¥% wei i, in the Wu Pu [3rd cent.] it is fx FE 
wel Jur. 
Tao Hune-KinG:—The wei jué is a common plant. 
Its root resembles that of the huang tsing [v. 7] but is 
smaller, The people eat it. 
Su Sone [11th cent.]:—The plant is common in Ch‘n 
chou [in An hui, App. 25], in Shu chou [in An hui, App. 
294], in Han chung [S. Shen si], in Kiin chou [in Hu pei, 
App. 172]. The stem is straight like a bamboo arrow-shaft ; 
the leaves are narrow and long, white on the upper side, 
green below. It is a kind of huang tsing. The root is of 
the thickness of a finger, covered with radical fibres, one or 
two feet long, edible. The flowers appear in the third 
month, and are of a green colour. The fruit is globular 
(berry). 
Li Sai-cHen :—It is a common plant in the mountains. - 
Its root grows in a horizontal direction like that of the 
huang tsing, but is smaller, of a yellowish white colour, soft, 
covered with many radical fibres. It is very difficult to dry. 
The leaves grow two and two together, resemble bamboo- 
leaves. The plant is very easily propagated from the roots. 
The leaves and the root both are eaten boiled. 
Kiu huang [LI, 3] and Ch. [VII, 14] sub wei jui, 
representations of a Polygonatum. 
Han., Se. pap. 255, examined and described the 
drug received from Shanghai under the name of yi chu 
