Celastrus angustifolia

[Chinese name]: Caulis Spatholobi Caulis Hedysarum

[category]: stems and vines

Evergreen mucunastem

[alias]: Celastrus angustifolia, Caulis Sanguinalis.

[source]: the stem of mucunasempervirens Hemsl.

[harvesting]: it can be harvested all year round, removed branches and leaves, sliced and dried in the sun.

[character and taste]: the stem is cylindrical, 3-15cm in diameter. The surface is grayish brown, rough, with longitudinal groove, transverse ring pattern and warty convex lateral branch trace. On the transverse section, the bark is thin, the phloem has resinous secretion, which is brown, the xylem is grayish yellow, the vessel is porous, and the radioactivity is arranged in order. Phloem and xylem are arranged alternately in concentric rings with small pith. It is hard to break and the fracture surface is fibrous. It is weak in Qi and astringent in taste. Warm in nature and bitter in taste.

[plant morphology]: evergreen woody vines, up to 30cm thick. Stems brown or yellowish brown, coarse; branchlets slender, pale green, smooth, glabrous. Compound leaves alternate, 3 leaflets; apical leaflets ovate or oblong ovate, 7-12cm long, 5-7cm wide, apex acutely caudate, base broadly cuneate; bilateral leaflets oblong ovate, apex acutely caudate, base obliquely cuneate or round, leaflets are entire, green glabrous. Inflorescence racemose, flowers large, drooping; calyx covered with dense tomentose, bell split, lobes blunt round or sharp; corolla dark purple or purple red; stamens 10, disome; ovary with rust colored long bristles. The pods are flat, woody, densely covered with golden coarse hairs, 30-60cm long and 2.8-3.5cm wide. Seeds oblate, suborbicular, brown.

[growing place]: it grows on the edge of forest and often twines on trees. It is mainly produced in Fujian, Yunnan and Zhejiang.

[chemical composition]:

[function indications]: blood circulation, blood circulation, channels and collaterals. It is used to treat rheumatic arthritis, traumatic injury, blood deficiency, irregular menstruation and amenorrhea.

[note]: the seed contains L-dopa.