Pharmacognostical Studies on the Chinese Crude Drug "Shengma" (I) General Structure of the Underground Parts of Cimicifuga Plants, Morphological and Anatomical Variations of C. simplex and "Shengma" Derived from This Species

"Shengma" is a popular Chinese crude drug used for treatment of exanthema, fever, piles and suppurative inflammation. The Chinese pharmacopoeia describes that this drug is derived from the rhizomes of Cimicifuga heracleifolia, C. dahurica and C. foetida of the family Ranunculaceae. According to our field research, the commercial "Shengma" available in Chinese markets presented various external features, suggesting different botanical origins of the drug. In order to establish a criteria for the identification of the botanical origins of "Shengma," a comparative anatomical study was carried out on 9 Cimicifuga species. In this paper, rhizomes of C. simplex from different growing areas were examined for their morphological and anatomical characters. It was found that for a comparative study, the best parts to be observed were the portions between two neighboring stem residues of rhizome with more than 5 stem residues and the portion of the stem residues 2-3 mm up from their base. The differences observed between the rhizomes of C. simplex from Japan and those from China were in the following characteristics; the shape and diameter of and distance between stem residues, thickness of cortex and shape of secondary xylem in rhizome; the diameter and sclerification of primary ray cells in stem residue; and appearance of sclereids in cortex in rhizome and stem residue. Moreover, "Shengma" of Shanxi Prov. market was identified as C. simplex from China.