THE IDENTIFICATION OF THREE MEDICINAL GENTIAN SPECIES PRODUCED IN NORTHEAST CHINA

Guanlongdan is the commercial name for the Chinese drug Gentian roots produced in Northeast China. It is derived from three species i. e. Gentiana scabra Bunge, G. triflora Pallas and G. manshurica Kitagawa. Of these plants and their roots some neglected features were found in our work. They are the spots on the corolla lobes, the colour of the gynophore glands, the diameter ratio of the roots, the form of the exodermis and endodermis cells and the thin-layer chromatogram. All of these were included in two keys, one is for botanical origins and the other for commercial drugs.Samples of the drugs used were mainly produced in Heilongjiang province.