Qizhou Lou Lu (Wearing a straw hat)
Qizhou Lou Lu (Silky fibrous brown hairs at the top)
Qizhou Lou Lu
Yuzhou Lou Lu (Yuzhou – cylindrical, Qizhou – conical)
Qizhou Lou Lu slices
Qizhou Lou Lu slices
【Naming】
【Source】
Shen Nong’s Herbal Classic (Shang Pin – Superior Class)
【Common Usage Degree】
E
【Botanical Origin】
The root of Rhaponticum uniflorum DC. (Qizhou Lou Lu) or Echinops latifolius Tausch. (Yuzhou Lou Lu) of the Asteraceae family.
【Characteristics】
Qizhou Lou Lu: The dried root is conical, often twisted, and old roots are cracked into larger pieces. It is 10~30㎝ long, with a central diameter of 1~2㎝. The outer skin is grayish-brown, dark brown, or brownish-black, very rough, with many longitudinal grooves and diamond-shaped reticulated cracks. The root head is slightly enlarged, and the top often has grayish-white silky villi. It is light and brittle, easily broken, and the fracture surface has cracks. It has a peculiar odor, a rancid oil smell, and a slightly bitter taste.
Prepared slices: The outer skin is grayish-brown or brownish-black, the xylem is grayish-yellow, arranged radially, with chrysanthemum patterns and cracks, and the center is grayish-black or brownish-black, forming star-shaped cracks due to decay. It has a peculiar odor and a slightly bitter taste.
Yuzhou Lou Lu: The root is long conical, cylindrical, thick at the top and thin at the bottom, slightly twisted, 10~30㎝ long, 1~2㎝ in diameter, the surface is earthy brown, with longitudinal wrinkles, the root head is slightly enlarged, and the top has many brown silky substances like remnants of leaf petioles (wearing a straw hat), without white lanugo. It is firm and tough, with a fibrous fracture surface, with alternating yellowish-white and black radial stripes. It has no odor and a slightly astringent taste.
Prepared slices: The outer skin is grayish-brown or grayish-yellow, the cross-section has a brown outer ring, and the inside has alternating yellow and black chrysanthemum patterns. Odorless, with a slightly astringent taste.
【Identification】
《Compendium of Materia Medica》: “Those from Jiangning and Shangdang are the best.” 《Seeking Truth from Materia Medica》: “The genuine one has a stem like an oil hemp, withered and black like lacquer.” The best is the one with grayish-black outer skin, thick stripes, firm texture, and no cracks.
【Identification Terminology】
1. Wearing a straw hat: refers to the top of the Lou Lu medicinal material having a number of fibrous brown hard hairs, shaped like wearing a straw hat.
【Section】
Roots