226 BOTANICON SINICUM. 
each other. It flowers in the 8rd month. Small red flowers 
like those of the liao lan [Polygonum tinctorium. See 123). 
The plant is also called #} fj BE fen tsie ts‘ao (flour joint 
plant), for the stem is covered witha [white] powder. As 
the plant grows by waysides it is also called SB AE He tao. 
sheng ts‘ao (way plant). 
This is probably a small Polygonum. According to 
Tatar. [Cat., 3], pien ch‘u is Polygonum hydropiper, L. 
P. Smirn [175] means that it is P. aviculare, L. For 
Chinese and Japanese drawings see Bot. sin., II, 54. : 
Cust. Med., p. 832 (253):—Pien ch‘u exported 1885 - 
from Swatow 1.72 picul. es. 
128.— 3 GE tsin ts‘ao. P., XVI, 86. 7., OVII. 
Comp. Fh ya, 10, Classics, 461. 
Pen king:—Tsin ts‘ao. It seems the whole plant is 
officinal. Taste bitter. Nature uniform. Non-poisonous. 
Pie lu:—The tsin ts‘ao grows in Ts‘ing i [in Sz ch‘uan, 
App. 364] in river-valleys. It is gathered in the 9th and 
10th months. The plant is fit for dyeing a gold-yellow i 
colour. 
Wu P‘v [8rd cent.] calls it $# #£ huang ts‘ao (yellow 
herb) and states that it grows in the mountain-valleys of 
T‘ai shan [Shan tung, App. 322]. 
Su Kune [7th cent.]:—The locality Ts‘ing i [mentioned 
in the Pie lu] lies west of I chou [See App. 102]. ‘The 
tsin ts‘ao is a common plant in marshes and on the banks 
of rivulets. The leaves resemble bamboo-leaves but are 
small and tender. Stem slender and round. The people of 
King and Siang [both in Hu pei, App. 146, 305], by boiling 
the plant, prepare an excellent yellow dye. The vulgar name — 
of the plant is # 2g la ju or | 4p lu chu. 
