Asarum sieboldii

Asarum sieboldii Miquel, Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugduno-Batavi. 2: 134. 1865.

(Asarum sieboldii Miq.; Photo healthwisdom.shop and vi.wikipedia.org)

Latin Name: Asarum sieboldii Miq.

Family & Genus: Aristolochiaceae, Asarum

Synonym Name: Asarum heterotropoides var. seoulense (Nakai) Kitag.; Asarum mandshuricum f. seoulense (Nakai) M.Kim & S.So; Asarum sieboldii var. seoulense Nakai; Asarum sieboldii f. seoulense (Nakai) C.Y.Chen & C.S.Yang; Asarum sieboldii var. seoulensis Nakai; Asarum sieboldii f. viride Y.N.Lee; Asarum sieboldii var. viridiluteolum Y.N.Lee; Asarum versicolor (Yamaki) Y.N.Lee; Asiasarum heterotropoides f. glabratum C.S.Yook, J.G.Kim & J.Nam; Asiasarum heterotropoides var. seoulense (Nakai) F.Maek.; Asiasarum koreanum J.G.Kim & C.S.Yook; Asiasarum sieboldii (Miq.) F.Maek.; Asiasarum sieboldii f. chungbuensis C.S.Yook & J.G.Kim; Asiasarum sieboldii var. versicolor Yamaki

English Name: Siebold Wildginger, Wild Ginger.

Chinese Name: 汉城细辛 han cheng xi xin

Vietnamese Name: Hoa tế tân, Tế thảo, Tiểu tân, Kim bồn thảo, Độc diệp thảo

Description: Herbs. Rhizomes vertical or horizontal, 2-3 mm in diam., internodes 1-2 cm. Leaves paired; petiole 8-18 cm, glabrous or pubescent; leaf blade uniformly colored, cordate or ovate-cordate, 4-11 × 4.5-13.5 cm, abaxial surface pubescent only along veins or densely pubescent, adaxial surface sparsely puberulent, base deeply cordate, lateral lobes 1.5-4 × 2-2.5 cm, apex shortly acuminate or acute; cataphylls reniform-rounded, ca. 1.3 × 1.3 cm. Peduncle declinate, 2-4 cm. Calyx dark purple, urceolate to campanulate, 1-1.5 × 1-1.5 cm; sepals connate beyond attachment to ovary, abaxially glabrous; tube subglobose, 6-8 × 1-1.5 cm, adaxially longitudinally ribbed; lobes erect or spreading, triangular-ovate, ca. 0.7 × 1 cm. Stamens 12; filaments slightly longer than anthers; connectives shortly extended beyond anthers, awl-shaped. Ovary superior. Styles free, short, apex shallowly 2-cleft; stigmas lateral. Flowering: May. Fruiting: June.

Distribution: Growing in dank and humus forest soil. Can be cultivated. Distributed in Shaanxi, Shandong, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Sichuan, Gansu and etc. The medicinal materials are mainly produced in Shaanxi, Shandong, Anhui, Zhejiang.

Part Used: Medical part: entire plant. Chinese name: Xixin.

Harvest & Processing: Excavated in fruiting summer or early autumn, removed soil and dried in shade.

Chemistry:

- Contains volatile oil with at least 25 ingredients.

- Roots: tetrahydrofurofurano lignans, phenylpropanoids and alkamides.

- (−)‐sesamin, (2E,4E,8Z,10E)‐N‐(2‐methylpropyl)dodeca‐2,4,8,10‐tetraenamide, kakuol, and ‘3,4,5‐trimethoxytoluene’ (=1,2,3‐trimethoxy‐5‐methylbenzene; ‘3,5‐dimethoxytoluene’, safrole, asaricin, methyleugenol, and (−)‐asarinin

Pharmacology: Antifebrile, pain-relieving, anti-convulsions, anti-inflammatory, immunodepression, anti-nephropathy, local anesthesia, beneficial to respiratory system and cardiovascular system, antihistamine and anti-pathological changes.

Properties & Actions: Pungent, warm, mild-toxic. Removing wind, dispelling cold, stimulating meridians, alleviating pain, warming lung and dissipating phlegm.

Indications & Usage: Used for common cold induced by pathogenic wind-cold, headache, toothache, nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea with turbid discharge, rheumatic arthralgia, dyspnea with cough due to phlegm and retained fluids. Internal: decocting, 2-6g; or powdered, 1-3g. External: appropriate amount, powdered for blowing nose, stuffing in ears, compress on navel; or decocted for gargling. Use with care in case of deficiency of qi and hydrosis. Not use for fever, deficiency of yin and blood, etc.

Examples      

1. Indigestion: wild ginger (removing leaves) 15g, cloves 7.5g. Grind into powder. Take 3g with persimmon stem soup.

2. Treat wind entered into abdomen, remove pain, expelling restlessness: wild ginger, medicinal evodia, dried ginger, 15g each, angelica, divaricate saposhnikovia root, 30g each, peony 60g. Grind all drugs into powder, 15g each time, water 2 L, cook until 1L remains. Warm up and drink in 3 times.

References

- libproject.hkbu.edu.hk

- efloras.org

- theplantlist.org

- Ah‐Reum Han  Hye Jeoung Kim  Minkyu Shin  Moochang Hong  Yang Seok Kim  Hyunsu Bae; Constituents of Asarum sieboldii with inhibitory activity on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐Induced NO Production in BV‐2 Microglial Cells; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Issue 22, 2008

- Miran Jeong, Hye Mi Kim (−)-Asarinin from the Roots of Asarum sieboldii induces apoptotic cell death via caspase activation in human ovarian cancer cells; Molecules 2018