蛇床(原变种) she chuang (yuan bian zhong)

Selinum monnieri Linnaeus, Cent. Pl. I: 9. 1755; Cicuta monnieri (Linnaeus) Crantz; C. sinensis Zuccagni; Cnidium microcarpum Turczaninow; C. mongolicum H. Wolff; Ligusticum mongolicum (H. Wolff) Leute; L. monnieri (Linnaeus) Calestani; Pinasgelon monnieri (Linnaeus) Rafinesque; Seseli daucifolium C. B. Clarke.

Plants 10–80 cm. Bracteoles nearly as long as pedicels. Calyx teeth obsolete. Fruit ovoid, 1.5–3 × 1–2 mm.

Riparian grasslands, field margins. Almost throughout China [India, Korea, Laos, Mongolia, Russia, Vietnam; Europe; adventive in North America].

The fruits are used as “she chuang zi,” a common herb of traditional Chinese medicine.