Abstract:
Fourteen additional kinds of commercial Tien-hua-fen are reported. Among which, 11 are derived from the Genus
Trichosanthes, family Cucurbitaceae and the other three are derived from
Thladiantha sp., Siraitia grosvenorii (Swingle) Jeffrey of the same family, and Stephania dielsiana Y. C. Wu, family Menispermaceae.The morphological and histological characters of the above 14 roots are described and compared, The relationships between the characters of the roots and that of the aerial parts, are further discussed.It is also found that among the Genus
Trichosanthes, the presence or absence, shape and arrangement of stone cells, are one of the more important diagnostic characters for differentiating roots derived from the sections
Foliobracteola, Involucraria and
Cucumeroides.The plant names and habitats of the 14 drugs reported in this paper are listed in the following table: