Chinese Medicinal Plants and Herbs - Plant Volume (Plant Volume)

Author: Zheng Hanchen, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-02-01
Features: Among the numerous medicinal plants in China, many can be used as food, or as raw materials for medicinal diets, health-preserving food and beverages, seasonings, flavor enhancers, and edible colors. Conversely, the vast majority of edible plants also possess medicinal or health benefits. This book introduces these edible-medicinal plants to readers in a form rich with illustrations and text, covering their scientific names, common names, morphology, habitats and distributions, chemical compositions, edible values, medicinal values, and recipes. The primary readership includes food, plant, and traditional Chinese medicine professionals, faculty and students of universities and colleges majoring in food, pharmacy, and traditional Chinese medicine, as well as general enthusiasts of plants, traditional Chinese medicine, and gourmet culture. The book includes 271 species of edible-medicinal plants. Each plant is accompanied by its internationally recognized Latin name and family name, along with 588 color photographs of the original plant and its edible or medicinal parts to aid in identification. The book is organized in taxonomic order from lower to higher plants, with angiosperms arranged according to the Engler classification system long used by Chinese botanists, facilitating readers in verifying relevant plant (monographs) and comparing similarities and differences with closely related species when necessary. Additionally, readers can search for plant names in Chinese, Latin, and English in the index at the back of the book. All measurements, counts, and percentages are expressed in Arabic numerals, while units of measurement are represented by internationally recognized symbols, such as: m (meters), cm (centimeters), mm (millimeters), g (grams), mg (milligrams), μg (micrograms), ml (milliliters), etc. Many plants have numerous common names, but this book only includes the most commonly used ones (up to five). If a Latin name has a commonly used synonym, it is noted in brackets after the official name. Habitat and distribution refer to the living environments and natural distribution areas of plants in their wild state, which helps in collection and creating conditions for cultivation. The recipes in the book are selected from various medical and pharmaceutical literature for reference only; however, any treatment must follow medical advice. Most of the photographs in the book were taken by the authors, except for the ecological photographs of sweet orange, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, and Panax notoginseng, which were reproduced from Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Medicinal Plants. The book primarily includes commonly or frequently used edible-medicinal plants, along with some species and animals that meet the criteria for inclusion but whose photographs or data are yet to be fully collected for future introduction to the public.