Shin Jin Cao (Stretching Tendon Herb) (Creeping stem, thin, round and curved, yellow-green, branched stem, wrinkled and curved scaly leaves, densely growing on the stem, yellow-white fine roots)

Shin Jin Cao (Stretching Tendon Herb)

【Name】

Shin Jin Cao (Stretching Tendon Herb)

 【Source】

Ben Cao Shi Yi‧Shi Song (Supplement to Materia Medica‧Lycopodium)

 【Common Usage Level】

D

 【Botanical Origin】

It is the whole plant with roots of Lycopodium clavatum L. of the Lycopodiaceae family.

 【Characteristics】

The dried creeping stems are slender and curved, yellow or yellow-green, 30-120cm long and 1-3mm in diameter. The texture is soft and tough, not easy to break. The fracture surface is nearly white, with a yellow-white woody core inside. Yellow-white fine roots, growing at near right angles, can often be seen. The outer skin often falls off. The upright stems are dichotomously branched. The scaly leaves are often wrinkled and curved, densely growing on the stem, linear or linear-awl-shaped, yellow-green or yellow, glabrous, and slightly shiny. The leaf apex is gradually acuminate and awn-shaped, with entire margins, and the veins are not obvious. The texture is thin and brittle. It has no odor and a bland taste.
The whole plants of Lycopodium obscurum L. and L. Cernum L., which belong to the same genus, are also called Shin Jin Cao (Stretching Tendon Herb) in Zhejiang, Sichuan and other places, and are used equally.

 【Identification】

The best quality has long stems, is yellow-green in color, and free of impurities.

 【Category】

Whole Herb Category