Morphological characteristics of Coptis chinensis

Coptis chinensis Franch. (scientific name: Coptis chinensis Franch.) Alias: Weilian, Chuanlian and jizhaolian belong to perennial herbs of Ranunculaceae and Coptis chinensis. The leaves are wandering, hard papery, ovate triangular, tripartite, the central lobe is ovate rhombic, feathery deep cleft, with sharp serrations on the edge, and the lateral lobes are unequal and 2 deep cleft; The petiole is 5-12cm long. It is wild or cultivated in cool, wet and shaded forests in valleys with an altitude of 1000-1900m. It has the effects of clearing away heat and dampness, purging fire and detoxifying. Its taste is extremely bitter. As the saying goes, "a mute eats Coptis chinensis, but he can't tell the pain", that is, it tells the taste.

Rhizome yellow, often branched, dense with many fibrous roots. Leaves have long stalks; Leaf blade slightly leathery, ovate triangular, up to 10 cm wide, tripartite, central whole lobe ovate rhombic, 3-8 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, apex acute, with 0.8-1.8 cm long petiole, 3 or 5 pairs of pinnate deep lobes, splitting deepest below, deep lobes 2-6 mm apart from each other, edge with sharp serrations with fine spines, lateral whole lobes with 1.5-5 mm long petiole, oblique ovate, It is shorter than the central whole lobe, unequal two deep lobes, the leaf veins on both sides are raised, and the rest are glabrous except that the surface is pubescent along the veins; Petiole 5-12 cm long, glabrous.

Scape 1-2, 12-25 cm high; Dichotomous or polygamous cymes with 3-8 flowers; Bracts lanceolate, three or five pinnately parted; Sepals yellowish green, long elliptic ovate, 9-12.5 mm long and 2-3 mm wide; Petals linear or linear lanceolate, 5-6.5 mm long, apex acuminate, with honeypot in the center; Stamens ca. 20, anthers ca. 1 mm, filaments ca. 2-5 mm; Carpels 8-12, style slightly recurved.

Follicles 6-8 mm long, handle about the same length; Seeds 7-8, long elliptic, about 2 mm long, about 0.8 mm wide, brown. It blooms from February to March and bears fruit from April to June.

Growth habit of Coptis chinensis

Coptis chinensis is cold, moist and shady. Avoid high temperature and drought. It is generally distributed in the high mountain area of 1200 ~ 1800m, which requires a natural environment with low temperature and high air humidity. Can not withstand strong sunlight, like weak light, so it needs shade.

It has shallow roots and is distributed in the soil layer of 5 ~ 10cm. It is suitable for loose and fertile topsoil, rich in humus, deep soil layer, pH5 5 ~ 6.5, slightly acidic. It grows in high mountains between 1500 ~ 2300 meters above sea level, under the cold and humid shade, wild or sometimes cultivated.