紫花前胡 zi hua qian hu

Porphyroscias decursiva Miquel, Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugduno-Batavi 3: 62. 1867; Peucedanum decursivum (Miquel) Maximowicz; P. grandifolioides H. Wolff; P. melanotilingia (H. de Boissieu) H. de Boissieu; P. porphyroscias Makino, nom. illeg. superfl.; Selinum melanotilingia H. de Boissieu; Ligusticum melanotilingia (H. de Boissieu) Kitagawa; Ostericum melanotilingia (H. de Boissieu) Kitagawa.

Plants perennial, 1–2 m high. Root brown, conic, 1–2 cm thick, strongly aromatic. Stem often purple-green, ribbed, glabrous. Petioles 13–36 cm, sheaths purple, elliptic; blade triangular to ovate, 10–25 cm, 1–2-ternate-pinnate; leaflets ovate or oblong-lanceolate, 5–15 × 2–5 cm, base decurrent, margin white-cartilaginous and cuspidate-serrate, apex acute, midribs often purple-green, hispidulous along nerves adaxially. Peduncles 3–8 cm, pubescent; bracts 1–3, purplish, ovate, sheath-like, reflexed; rays 10–22, 2–4 cm, pubescent; bracteoles 3–8, linear to lanceolate, green or purple; pedicels pubescent. Calyx teeth triangular-subulate. Petals dark purple, obovate or ellipsoid-lanceolate, apex incurved but not notched. Anthers dark purple. Fruit oblong to ovoid-orbicular, 4–7 × 3–5 mm; dorsal ribs filiform, acute, lateral ribs thickly narrow-winged; vittae 1–3 in each furrow, 4–6 on commissure. Fl. Aug–Sep, fr. Sep–Nov. n = 11*.

Forest margins, shrubby thickets, slopes, streamsides; 200–800 m. Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Taiwan, Zhejiang; also NE China [Japan, Korea, Russia (Siberia), Vietnam].

The roots are used in the important traditional Chinese medicine “qian hu” (see also Peucedanum praeruptorum), particularly in the treatment of colds, coughs, and fevers. White-flowered plants in NE China may be referred to Angelica decursiva f. albiflora (Maximowicz) Nakai (J. Coll. Sci. Imp. Univ. Tokyo 16(1): 268. 1909; Peucedanum decursivum var. albiflorum Maximowicz, Melanges Biol. Bull. Phys.-Math. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Pétersbourg 12: 473. 1886).