A SEM OBSERVATION ON THE LEAVES OF THE GENUS CALLICARPA OF 16 CHINESE SPECIES

Zhi Zhu is a folk drug used as a haemostatic, antibacterial and antiphlogistic agent in China. It is a popular name for the Callicarpa plants. C. formosana Rolfe and C. nudiflora Hook. et Arn. have been recorded in the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (1977).After a general survey and taxonomic identification of the original plants of these drugs, more than 10 species of plants, all belonging to the Genus "Callicarpa", are found in the market under the general name "Zhi Zhu".Morphological characters of the leaf epidermis of 16 Chinese species of Callicarpa, viz, C. japonica Thunb., C. cathayana H. T. Chang, C. brevipes (Benth.) Hance, C. lingii Merr., C. kochiana Makino, C. integerrima Champ., C. nudiflora Hook. et Arn., C. maerophylla Vahl, C. formosana Rolfe, C. bodinieri Lévl., C. giraldii Hesse ex Rehd. var. lyi (Lévl.) C. Y. Wu, C. giraldii Hesse ex Rehd. C. longifolia Lamk., C. longissima (Hemsl) Merr., C. diehotoma (Lour.) K. Koch, and C. rubella Lindl. were observed under SEM (Scanning electron microscope). The leaf characters of the above 16 species are described and summarized briefly in the key. In addition, 5 plates of photographs are also presented.All of these may be of value to the identification and utilization of these drugs.