狗筋蔓 gou jin wan

Cucubalus baccifer Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 414. 1753; C. baccifer var. angustifolius L. H. Zhou; C. baccifer var. cavaleriei H. Léveillé; C. baccifer var. japonicus Miquel.

Herbs perennial. Roots white, long fusiform, cross section yellow. Stems and branches spreading, 50--150 cm. Petiole 3--5 mm; leaf blade ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or narrowly elliptic, 1.5--5(--13) × 0.8--2(--4) cm, papery, both surfaces hairy at veins, base attenuate, margin entire, ciliate, apex acuminate. Flower slightly nutant. Pedicel hairy. Calyx broadly campanulate, 9--11 mm; calyx teeth ovate-triangular, nearly as long as tube, ciliolate, revolute in fruit. Androgynophore ca. 1.5 mm. Petals oblanceolate, ca. 15 × 2.5 mm; claw long, narrow; limb 2-fid. Stamens and styles included. Fruit black, globose, 6--8 mm, fleshy, irregularly dehiscent. Seeds black, ca. 1.5 mm. Fl. Jun--Aug, fr. Jul--Oct. 2n = 24.

Forest margins, scrub, grasslands. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, Japan, Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Korea, Nepal, Russia, Sikkim; Europe].

Wu Zhengyi (editor’s note) prefers to treat this species as a distinct, monotypic genus ( Cucubalus ), on account of its fleshy, baccate, irregularly dehiscent fruit, which is unique in the Caryophyllaceae.

Silene baccifera is used medicinally.