玄参 xuan shen

Scrophularia microdonta Franchet; S. silvestrii Bonati & Pampanini.

Herbs, to 1.5 m tall. Lateral roots few, fusiform to conical. Stems quadrangular, lightly grooved to nearly winged, glabrous or white crisped hairy. Leaves opposite, sometimes apically alternate; petiole to 4.5 cm; leaf blade below mostly ovate, upper ones ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, to 30 X 19 cm, base cuneate, rounded, or subcordate, margin serrulate and rarely irregularly double serrate. Thyrses to 50 cm, largely lax; cymes terminal and axillary, often 2-4-flowered, rarely a terminal cyme less than 10 cm. Pedicel 0.3-3 cm, glandular hairy. Calyx 2-3 mm; lobes suborbicular, rounded, margin submembranous. Corolla brown-purple, 8-9 mm; tube subglobose; lower lip lobes subovate, middle lobe shorter than lateral lobes. Stamens slightly shorter than lower lip; staminode large and globose. Style ca. 3 mm. Capsule ovoid, 8-9 mm. Fl. Jun-Oct, fr. Sep-Nov.

* Bamboo forests, along streams, thickets, tall grasses; below 1700 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guizhou, N Hebei, Henan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang.

Used medicinally.