46 BOTANICON SINICUM. 
resembling those of the ¢s‘z‘ ki [spiny thistle. See 
Sometimes the flowers are yellowish white. After sum 
it produces seeds and in autumn the plant withers. The t 
resembles ginger, is beset with radical fibres. Its skin is 
black, the heart is yellowish white, contains a resinous jul 
of a purplish (brown) colour. T‘ao Hunc-KING distinguishes 
two kinds of shu. His pai (white) shu is the same as the 
yang fu of the Rh ya [see Rh ya, 8). At present it B. 
found on the high mountains in the prefectures of Hang chou 
[in Che kiang, App. 58], Yiie chou [in Che kiang, App — 
418], in Shu chou [in An hui, App. 294], in Siian chow 
[in An hui, App. 315]. Its leaves stand opposite each other, 
are covered with hair. The stem is square, on its top are 
the flowers. They are of a pale purple colour, or blue, ot 
ancient prescriptions always the pai shu is to be understood. — 
Lr Sut-cuen says that the pai shu plant resembles 
the ki (thistle). The taste of the root is like ginger and 
mustard. It is much cultivated in Yang chou [Che kiang, 
Kiang su, App. 400] and also known under the name of 
Sz Fi or shu from Wu (Che kiang, Kiang su, App. 389} 
The ancient prescriptions do not discriminate between the — 
white and the red shu, 
It was only in later times that the : 
latter was distinguished and termed ts‘ ang shu, a 
The 3 jit ts‘ang shu is first mentioned by K‘ou Tsun : 
SHI [12th cent.] as a succulent root of the size of a fingel 
with a gray skin and of a pungent, bitter taste. It is used : 
in the same way as the pat shu, which is sweet. 
} Li Sut-cuey identifies the ts‘ang shu with the 3 tt 
ch’t (red) shu which is mentioned in the Pie lu, in the Rh yt 
[159] and by T‘so Hune-xing [v. supra}. It is also known 4 
