Herbal Textual Research on Selaginellae Herba in Famous Classical Formulas / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

By consulting the ancient Chinese herbal books， medical books and formularies of the past dynasties， and combining with modern research data， this paper makes a systematic textual research on the name， origin， place of origin， traditional quality evaluation， harvesting and processing of Selaginellae Herba， so as to provide a basis for the development and utilization of the relevant famous classical formulas. According to the textual research， Juanbai is the correct name of the herbal medicine in all dynasties， and there are also aliases such as Baozu， Qiugu， Jiaoshi and Jiusi Huanhuncao. The origin of Selaginellae Herba in the ancient herbal books was Selaginella tamariscina in all dynasties. Since the Republic of China， S. pulvinata has been gradually used as another origin of Selaginellae Herba. In ancient times， the producing area of S. tamariscina was mainly in Shandong， Hebei， Henan， Shaanxi， Jiangsu and Sichuan， etc. Nowadays， it is produced all over the country. S. pulvinata is mainly produced in Guangxi， Fujian， Sichuan， Guizhou， Yunnan， Hebei and so on. Since the recent times， it is concluded that the quality of the green color， complete and unbroken is good. Before the Qing dynasty， it was recorded that the harvesting time of Selaginellae Herba was generally from April to July， and it was expanded to all year round since the Qing dynasty. After harvesting， remove the sediment（sand and mud）， cut off the fibrous roots and dry in the shade or in the sun. The processing methods in all dynasties were mainly carbonizing by stir-frying and stir-bake to brown， and some ancient books contained the processing method of brine boiling， which was rarely used in modern times. Based on the results， it is recommended that S. tamariscina should be used as the base material of Selaginellae Herba. Because of more impurities， it should be fully purified to ensure the cleanliness of the herb， and the processing method can be based on the prescription requirements， if the processing requirements are not specified， the raw products can be used， charcoal products is recommended for use as an hemostatic.