4lO CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



it bears yellow flowers, followed by red fruits. The root is 

 very hard, and is covered with bristle-like hairs. A decoction, 

 which is sour and harsh, is made of the root. The aborigines 

 gather the leaves and root and use them as a dye." It is 

 commonly supposed that CJiina root is obtained from the 

 Smilax cJiiiia^ but this is not the case (see Sviilax pseudo- 

 china and PacJiyma cocos.) The root is tonic, diuretic, and 

 antimalarial, and it is used in colds, menorrhagia, gravel, 

 fluxes, and debility. 



SMILAX PSEUDO-CHINA.— i ^ ->^ (T'u-fu-ling), 

 1368 (see also 332). Other names given are $lj |^ J^ (Tz'ii- 

 chu-ling), /-^ is H (Leng-fan-t'uan), "cold rice ball, and 

 |lj M :^ (vShan-ti-li), "mountain ground-chestnut." It was 

 called -J^ f^ |i (Yii-yii-liang), because once when the Great Yii 

 was traveling in the mountains and ran short of food, he had 

 this root gathered and used as a substitute. Li Shih-chen 

 says that the plant grows plentifully in Hukuang and Sze- 

 chuan. It is a climbing plant, having a spotted stem ; and 

 the leaves, which are not opposite, somewhat resemble large 

 bamboo leaves, but are thicker, more glabrous, and five or six 

 inches long. The root somewhat resembles that of Smilax 

 china^ but is round, and consists of a conglomeranon of 

 tubers of the size of a hen's or duck's egg, being found at 

 varying depths in the ground. The flesh is very tender and 

 can be eaten raw, and there are two kinds: one red and one 

 white. The latter is used in medicine. This is the principal 

 substance known as China root^ although Pachynia cocos is also 

 included under this name, and it is sometimes difficult to 

 separate the two products or distinguish them on the market. 

 The latter is usually much larger, and in China proper is more 

 common. Rut the Snii/ax root is exported to India and 

 Burma, being called in the former country Chob-Chiiia^ and in 

 the latter Tsein-apho-taroup. It is met with on the market in 

 the form of brown, irregular, nodulated, branching, tuberous 

 roots, with wiry radicles of some length attached to them. 

 The interior is white and starchy, and sweet to the taste, with 

 patches of yellow near the surface. It can be used as food, 

 strengthening the body, and assisting in keeping one awake on 



