Zusima

Chinese Name: zusima

[category]: leather

[English name]: ciralddaphne bark

[alias]: zushi Ma, dajiujia, Jinchuang.

[source]: root bark and stem bark of daphnegiraldii nitsche.

[harvest]: peel the stem and root bark in spring and autumn.

[nature and taste]: long strip, curly, 0.5-2mm thick. The outer surface is brown yellow or grayish brown, the root bark is rough, the stem bark is smooth, with longitudinal wrinkles and transverse long lenticels. It is tough, not easy to break, and its section is yellow white. The taste is slightly bitter and has a lasting numb tongue feeling.

[plant morphology]: deciduous or semi evergreen shrub. The root is red yellow and fibrous. Stem gray brown, smooth, glabrous, bark rich in fiber, not easy to break. The leaf blade is oblanceolate, 3-6cm long, 7-12cm wide, apex pointed or obtuse, base cuneate, entire, with white powder below; subsessile. The flowers are yellow, slightly fragrant, 3-8-flowered, and the top of branchlets is slightly capitate; the perianth is tubular, the upper part is 4-lobed, the lobes are triangular lanceolate, and the apex is gradually narrow and sharp; the stamens are 8, forming 2 rounds, and growing on the upper part of the perianth tube; the ovary has no style, and the stigma is round. Drupe ovoid, bright red. The flowering period is from April to June.

[growing place]: on the edge of hillside forest or in sparse forest. It is mainly produced in Shaanxi and Gansu.

[chemical constituents]: Daphne lactone a, 7,8-dihydroxycoumarin-7 - β - glucoside and Daphne lactone B.

Indications: dispelling wind and dampness, promoting blood circulation and relieving pain. For rheumatic arthralgia, arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis.

Note: the stem bark and root bark of Daphne tangutica Maxim. D. retusa Hemsl. Are used as Zusi hemp.