Salix mandshurica

Chinese Name: xiheliu

[category]: stems and vines

English Name: Chinese tamarisk twin

[alias]: Salix kawakamii, Salix sanchunensis, Salix Xihu and Tamarix ramosissima.

[source]: the tender branches and leaves of Tamarix chinensis Lour.

[harvesting]: cut the tender branches and leaves from May to June and dry them in the shade.

[character and taste]: the stem and branch are thin cylindrical, 0.5-1.5mm in diameter. The surface is grayish green with many alternate scalelike leaflets. It is brittle and easy to break. The surface of the thicker branches is reddish brown, and the leaves often fall off and remain protuberant leaf base. The cross section is yellowish white, and the center has pith. The air is weak and the taste is light. It is mild in nature, sweet and pungent in taste.

[plant morphology]: deciduous shrub or small tree. Branches dense, green or reddish, slender, often drooping. Leaves alternate, very small, scaly, ovate triangular, apex acuminate, base sheathed, sessile. The inflorescence is an open panicle; flowers are small, white to pink, bracts triangular; sepals 5; petals 5, filaments longer than corolla, disk 10 or 5-lobed; ovary superior, 1-locular, style 3. Capsule small. Seed apex with tufts. The flowering period is from April to September and the fruiting period is from August to October.

[growing place]: it grows in the mountain moist sandy alkali land and the river bank alluvial land. More cultivation. It is mainly produced in Hebei and Henan, and in most parts of China.

[chemical composition] it contains resin, quercetin monomethyl ether tannin and salicin.

Function indications: dispersing wind, detoxifying and penetrating rash. It is used for measles, rheumatism and arthralgia.

Note: the tender branches and leaves of t. juniperina Bge. And t. pentandra (Desv.) Pall. Are also used for medicine.