456 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



included in the third and fourth. These epiphytic plants 

 are found growing upon the fir, poplar, oak, elm, willow, 

 peach, mulberry, liquidamber, Pterocarya stenoptera, and other 

 trees. Some of the authorities in the Pentsao say that it is 

 the same plant, only differing in its root according to the tree 

 upon which the plant lives. But it is more than probable 

 that more than one genus is represented by these many varieties 

 of epiphytes. According to Henry, Loranthus yadoriki is found 

 in Hupeh, and the Japanese find Loranthus {Viscum) k(Bmpferi 

 in Japan on Larix, Abies, and some species of pine. Whatever 

 description ot the two plants is given in the Pentsao, together 

 with their medicinal uses, will be found under the article on 

 Loranthus. 



VITEX CANNABIFOLIA.— tt fij (Mu-ching). This 

 includes also Vitex negundo, which is called ^ fij (Huang- 

 ching). The classical name for the plant is ^ (Ch'u). The 

 ■character Ching was the name of one of the nine provinces 

 into which the empire was divided under the Great Yii. Ch'^u 

 also was the name of a state which occupied the same territory 

 as the province of Ching, What reference these characters 

 may have to the name of this plant, if any, is not clear. At 

 Peking the Vitex incisa, which is there called fij -^ (Ching-tzu) 

 or ^^ •ji^^ (Ching-t'iao), is a very common shrub. It is also used 

 for fuel and for making charcoal. In the mountains where it is 

 allowed to grow for several years it becomes quite a tree, 

 although ordinarily the tree does not attain to very large size. 

 The flowers are produced in the axils of the leaves, and the 

 fruit is about the size of coriander. They are used in 

 rheumatic difficulties, coughs, colds, angina, leucorrhoea, 

 hernia, deafness, and gonorrhoea. The leaves are used as an 

 astringent and sedative in cholera, gravel, and moist eczemas 

 of the lower extremities. The root is employed in colds and 

 rheumatic difficulties; the twigs, in decoction, as a dressing 

 in burns and scalds. An infusion, called f|J 'j^ (Ching-li), 

 is made of the twigs of the plant, and is considered to be a 

 very efficacious remedy in all forms of headache, dizziness, 

 convulsions of children, coughs, and mental unrest, and at 

 the same time it is said to promote wakefulness. 



