防风 fang feng

Stenocoelium divaricatum Turczaninow, Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 17: 734. 1844; Cachrys seseloides (Hoffmann) Marschall von Bieberstein; Johrenia seseloides (Hoffmann) Koso-Poljansky; Laser divaricatum (Turczaninow) Thellung; Ledebouriella divaricata (Turczaninow) M. Hiroe; L. seseloides (Hoffmann) H. Wolff; Rumia seseloides Hoffmann; Siler divaricatum (Turczaninow) Bentham & J. D. Hooker; Trinia dahurica Turczaninow ex Besser; T. seseloides (Hoffmann) Ledebour.

Plants 30–80 cm high. Rootstock to 2 cm thick. Basal leaves numerous; petioles flattened, with ovate sheaths; leaf blades oblong-ovate to broad-ovate, 14–35 × 6–8(–18) cm, 2-pinnate; pinnae 3–4 pairs, petiolulate; ultimate segments linear-lanceolate or cuneate-obovate, 3-lobed at apex, 2–5 × 0.5–2.5 cm. Leaves reduced upwards. Umbels numerous, ca. 6 cm across; peduncles 2–5 cm; rays 5–7, 3–5 cm; bracteoles 4–6, ca. 3 mm, acuminate; umbellules 4–5-flowered. Petals ca. 1.5 mm. Fruit 4–5 × 2–3 mm, tuberculate when young, becoming smooth when mature. Fl. Aug–Sep, fr. Sep–Oct. n = 8*.

Scrub, hillsides, grasslands, stony slopes; 400–800 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi [Korea, Mongolia, Russia (E Siberia)].

The root is used as the important traditional Chinese medicine “fang feng.”