Chicken Blood Vine slices (Vessels show resinous, lacquer-like, reddish-brown rings with many small pores. The pith is small and the texture is firm.)

Chicken Blood Vine (Spatholobus suberectus) (Cylindrical, grayish-brown)

Chicken Blood Vine slices (Millettia dielsiana)

Chicken Blood Vine

【Name】

Chicken Blood Vine

 【Source】

Shi Yi (Supplement to Materia Medica)

 【Common Usage Level】

C

 【Botanical Origin】

The dried vine stem of Spatholobus suberectus Dunn of the Fabaceae family or Millettia dielsiana Harms ex Diels.

 【Characteristics】

The stem of this product is slightly twisted, of varying lengths, usually cut into segments of about 15-30 cm, with a diameter of about 3-4 cm. The cork is grayish-brown, but parts of the cork are peeled off, exposing the ochre-red inner bark. The surface has longitudinal fine wrinkles, and sometimes branch traces can be seen, as well as red resin clots exuded after the bark is broken. The texture is firm and difficult to break. The cut surface is fibrous. The prepared slices are transversely or slightly obliquely cut into thin slices, slightly oval, about 1 mm thick. The bark is thin and sometimes peeled off. The wood accounts for most of the stem, light reddish-brown, with 3-8 eccentric semicircular reddish-brown rings, about 1-2 mm wide. Under magnification, they are composed of multiple punctate dark brown secretory cells. The distance between the two ring layers is wide, with numerous obvious small pores (vessels). The pith is small, loose, and brownish, sometimes hollow. The color of the wood near the pith is particularly light. The texture is brittle, easily broken, or peeled off from the ring layer. The taste is astringent.

 【Identification】

“The genuine one has a line like chicken blood spreading out” according to Bencao Jianyao Fang (Simple Prescriptions of Materia Medica). “Take a small amount and put it in boiling soup. The genuine one has a line like chicken blood spreading out.” according to Bencao Jianyao Fang.
Chicken Blood Vine should be medium thick, like a bamboo pole, slightly longitudinally ridged. The texture should be hard, the color brownish-red, and the cut surface should have reddish-black juice marks to be considered good.

 【Identification Terminology】

1. Solid core: Generally refers to the stem of the medicinal material not being hollow and having a firm texture, such as Kunming Chicken Blood Vine.

 【Category】

Vines and Woods