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Schisandra
chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. Standardized Common
Name: Schisandra
Other Common Names: Northern Schisandra,
Schizandra, Wu Wei Zi
Family: Schisandraceae
Taxonomy: Schisandra
includes 23 species of woody vines, almost all native to east Asia. The
basionym of S. chinensis is Kadsura chinensis Turcz.
Description: Woody vine. Leaves
alternate, clustered on lateral branches, petiolate, obovate,
(4.5–)5.5–8(–10.5) cm long; base acute to attenuate, apex acuminate, margins
with several short inconspicuous teeth; texture papery; venation pinnate with
secondary veins slightly forward-curving, sometimes pubescent over veins.
Flowers unisexual and plants monoecious or dioecious; flowers solitary,
axillary, with perianth of 6–9 tepals; tepals yellow to white, 6.5–10 mm long,
somewhat unequal in size. Male flowers with 5 fused stamens. Female flowers
with 14–40 separate carpels, spirally arranged on receptacle, with stigmatic
crest along one side [a very primitive form of carpel]. Fruit an aggregate of
berries, borne on elongated stemlike receptacle 2–6 cm long; berries pinkish
red, 5–8 mm long, 4–5(–6) mm broad, subspherical. Seeds 1–2 per berry, reniform
or rarely round, flattened, with notch in one of the long sides,
(2.9–)3.2–3.8(–4.0) mm long, (3.6–)4.4–4.8(–5.0) mm broad; surface smooth.
Parts
in Commerce:
Dried ripe fruit
Identification:
- 5–8 mm long,
broadly elliptical to subspherical
- Dark red when
dried (pinkish red in fresh material), sometimes blackish red or with
whitish coating, but not brown
- Surface
glabrous, irregularly wrinkled on drying
- Seeds 1–2 per
fruit
- Seeds moderately
flattened, broadly reniform or rarely round with small notch
- Seeds
(3.6–)4.4–4.8(–5.0) mm broad (across longest dimension),
(2.9–)3.2–3.8(–4.0) mm long
- Seeds smooth and
glossy, without wrinkles or warts, orange-brown to yellowish brown
- Taste of fruit
pulp sour
- Crushed seeds
with aromatic odor, pungent taste
Adulterants: Many of the 23
species of Schisandra are used as edible or medicinal fruits; one
similar species overlaps S. chinensis in range, and others are commonly
cultivated in Asia. All can generally be distinguished from S. chinensis
by the presence of at least one of the following features:
- Underlying fruit
color blackish purple rather than red, or fruit surface brown
- Fruits and seeds
larger or smaller than expected (note that most species have fruits of
quite variable size)
- Seeds 3 per
fruit
- Seeds
disk-shaped, elliptical, or pear-shaped
- Seed surface
wrinkled or warty
In Chinese medicine, S. chinensis and S.
sphenanthera Rehd. & Wils. may be used interchangeably. The latter has
smaller fruits with a reddish brown to dark brown epidermis.
References:
Pharmacopoeia Commission
of PRC, eds. Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China, English ed., vol. 1. Beijing: Chemical
Industry Press; 1997:77.
Saunders RMK. Monograph of Schisandra
(Schisandraceae). Ann Arbor, MI: American Society of Plant Taxonomists;
2000. Systematic Botany Monographs, No. 58.
Saunders RMK. Schisandraceae. Canberra:
Australian Biological Resources Study; 2001. Species Plantarum: Flora of the
World, Part 4.
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