Asarum caudigerum Hance-wild ginger

 Asarum caudigerum Hance, J. Bot. 19: 142 (1881).

Asarum caudigerum Hance; Photos Hoang Thanh Son

Vietnamese name: 

Thổ tế tân, Biến hóa, Đỗ hành, Quán chì (H’Mông)

Chinese name: 

尾花细辛 wei hua xi xin

English name: 

wild ginger

Latin name: 

Asarum caudigerum Hance

Family: 

Aristolochiaceae 

Synonym name:

Asarum arrhizoma H.Lév. & Vaniot

Asarum caudigerum var. leptophyllum (Hayata) S.S.Ying

Asarum caudigerum var. triangulare (Hayata) S.S.Ying

Asarum leptophyllum Hayata

Asarum leptophyllum var. triangulare Hayata

Description: 

Herbs. Rhizomes vertical, 2-4 mm in diam., internodes less than 1 cm. Leaves paired; petiole 5-20 cm, villous; leaf blade adaxially dark green with white blotches along veins, broadly ovate, triangular-ovate, or ovate-cordate, 4-10 × 3.5-10 cm, abaxial surface densely pubescent, adaxial surface sparsely pubescent, base auriculate or cordate, lateral lobes 3-4 × 3-3.5 cm, apex acute or long acuminate; cataphylls ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 0.8-1.3 × 0.4-0.6 cm. Peduncle erect to ascending, 1-2 cm. Calyx green to purplish green, ± campanulate, 2-5 × 1-2 cm; sepals free beyond attachment to ovary, abaxially white villous; pseudotube subglobose, 0.6-1.0 × 0.9-1.5 cm; lobes erect or spreading, 1-3 × 0.4-1.2 cm, base ovate-oblong, apex abruptly narrowed to a slender cauda 10-25 mm. Stamens 12; filaments as long as anthers; connectives extended beyond anthers, ligulate to awl-shaped. Ovary inferior. Styles connate, apex 6-cleft, lobes entire; stigmas terminal. 

Flower and fruid season: 

Flower Mar-May.

Distribution: 

This species is distributed in China (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan) and Viet Nam. In VietNam, found in Hà Giang, Cao Bằng, Lai Châu.

Ecological: 

Mixed forests, mountain slopes, along streams; 300-1700 m. 

Cultivation Details:

Found in hardyness zones 8 - 10 in southern and central China.

Plants in this genus generally prefer a rich moist neutral to acid soil in dappled to deep shade in a woodland or in a shady position in the rock garden.

The flowers are malodorous and are mainly self-pollinated but are also pollinated by mycotrophic flies.

Chemistry: 

The yield of theessential oil from the aerial parts of this plant is 0.2 percent by dry-air material. Analysed by GC/MS, thisessential oil contains 8 constituents, of which the main constituent is safrol (96.27%)

Uses: 

In VietNam: Coughing, toning blood, aching limbs (Parts used: Roots). 

In China, species of Asarum that produce pungent aromatic roots are used in traditional medicine as a remedy for pain and colds. Among them. Asarum heterotropoides mandshuricum is considered of the greatest value, although Asarum sieboldii is believed to have been the first species used in ancient Chinese medicine. All the remaining species, including those utilized in folk medicine, are used for the same or slightly different purposes.

Reference: 

- theplantlist.org

- efloras.org

- ipni.org

- temperate.theferns.info 

- missouribotanicalgarden.org

- Tran Minh Hoi (2004), Chemical composition of Tho te tan (Asarum caudigerum HANCE) in Huong Son (Ha Tinh), Journal of Biology, 26 (4): 63-64