Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Maxim.

Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Maxim.

Latin Name: Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Maxim.

Synonym Name: Acanthopanax senticosus (Rupr. et Maxim.) Harms

English Name: Manyprickle Acathopanax, Many Prickle Acanthopanax, Multiprickeled Acanthopanax, Siberian Ginseng

Family & Genus: Araliaceae, Acanthopanax

Description:

It is a winter hardy perennial deciduous shrub with erect, scarcely branched and slender prickly stems up to 8 to 15 ft (2.4 to 4.5 m) in height (Fig. 1). Its dark green leaves have hairy veins and 3 or 5 oval to oblong fine toothed leaflets 3 inches (7.6 cm) long on a bristly short stalk 3 to 5 inches (7.6 to 12.7 cm) long. It has one or more globose umbels 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) wide with purplish male and yellow female flowers terminating the shoots. Each individual plant produces three types of flowers, male, female and bisexual, which bloom in early July (Halstead and Hood, 1984; Liu et al., 1997). Siberian ginseng flowers are cross-pollinated mainly by bees such as Bombus, Halietus, and Megachile (Liu et al., 1998). Polli- nated flowers develop into oval and berry-like black fruits 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) in diameter when mature (Bailey and Bailey, 1977; Chittenden, 1974).

Distribution: Growing in miscellaneous forests of coniferous and broadleaved trees, under or by deciduous broad-leaved forest edges at altitude below 2,000m. Can be cultivated. Distributed in Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, or Shanxi, Hebei and etc. The medicinal materials are mainly produced in Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Shaanxi, Hebei and etc.

Part Used: Medical part: roots, rhizome or stems. Chinese name: Ciwujia.

Harvest & Processing: Excavated in spring and autumn, removed soil and sun-dried.

Chemistry: Mainly contains glycoside (e.g. Eleutheroside).

Pharmacology: Anti-fatigue, anti-anoxia, anti-aging and anti-tumor, blood-lipid-regulating, adaptivity-improving, anti-arrhythmic, immune-system regulating.

Properties & Actions: Sweet, little bitter, warm. Sweet, little bitter, warm. Tonifying qi and fortifying the spleen, tonifying the kidney and calming mental state.

Indications & Usage: Used for renal insufficiency and physical weakness, asdthenic splenonephro-yang, relative weakness in the loins and knees, weariness and debilitation, insomnia and dreaminess, delayed walking ability in children, etc. Oral administration: decocting,6-15g, or made in pills or powder or made as medicinal liquor.

Examples:

1. Treat infantile paralysis and weakness of bones and tendons, retard walking: manyprickle acathopanax 9g, India madder, papaya, achyranthis radix, 6g each. Decoct in water for oral dose.

2. Treat rheumatic pain: manyprickle acathopanax 15g. Decoct in water, or add into yellow wine as infused decoction.

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