A NEW MEDICINAL PLANT OF THE GENUS PINELLIA L.

A new medicinal plant Pinellia polyphylla S. L. Hu has been found in the south-western part of Sichuan Province, China. Its local name is "Dabanxia" or "Yanbanxia". Its young tubers are being used as a substitute for the Chinese drug "Banxia" (P. ternata Breit.) and its big tubers as a substitute for another Chinese drug "Tiannanxing" (tubers of Arisaema spp.). This new species is closely related to P. cordata N. E. Brown(a herbal drug named"Dishuizhu"in Chinese). It is indeed a remakable species which is very distinct from the species known to us by: (1) plant without a bulbil; (2) its rather large (to 6 cm diam.) tubers with 1～4 stolons, covered by a couple of layers of fibrous leaf base on the crown; (3) the number (1～4) and size (to 33 cm long and to 22 cm wide) of leaves; (4) spathe contracted at throat and with lower part recurved backwards on maturity of fruits.