Textual study of ginseng in Wupu Bencao / 中国中药杂志

ABSTRACT

In the study of materia medica literature, we found of ginseng in Wupu Bencao that "Leaf is a little sharp, root is black and stem is pilous" had been ignored by its subsequent literatures. In this study, the variety of ginseng in Wupu Bencao was researched. We believed the remaining records of ginseng in Wupu Bencao referred to Oplopanax elatus instead of Panax ginseng. The origin of this species was in Handan during the period of three-kingdom dynasty, but distributed in the area of Changbai mountain nowadays.