RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To provide fundamental information for its exploiting. Aralia echinocaulis by the resource and identification study on.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Resource survey and various identification were carried out.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The county level distribution and ecological environment of A. echinocaulis were initially observed. It mainly distributed in the mountainous areas of the Yangtze River basin and the south, and was usually used as folk drug. This study also displayed its morphological, microscopic and chemophysical identification features.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The morphological features of original plant and crude drug, and the anatomical and chemophysical characteristics of A. echinocaulis are of identification value, and the species are also of greater development and utilization potentiality, but the resource does not support the sustainable utilization. Therefore, artificial propagation is apparently crucial to its exploitation.</p>