Take the Sterculia lychnophora out of your cup quickly!

When you were in school, have you ever seen this scene: there was always a cup on the teacher's desk, in which were soaked sterculia lychnophora, monk fruit, and possibly some herbs such as Ophiopogon japonicus, honeysuckle, and Oroxylum bungeanum. It was said that they could keep the throat in good condition and prevent hoarseness or inflammation.

The other herbs all looked ordinary, except for the Sterculia lychnophora . When you put a seed in it and soak it in water, it turns into a big fungus, which seems to be full of magical power.

Sterculia lychnophora before and after absorbing water. Copyright image from the gallery, reprinting and using may cause copyright disputes

In fact, we know very little about this well-known and extremely common herb, Plantago asiatica. Even doctors, pharmacists and botanists may not be able to clearly explain its origin.

Let me put it this way: none of the merchants selling Sterculia lychnophora seeds, seedlings, and medicines on e-commerce platforms have posted the correct pictures of the original plants. They are all olives, Mahonia, and even plums. I have reason to suspect that they have never seen the Sterculia lychnophora plant at all.

Oh~the most familiar stranger, who exactly are you?

The pictures of Sterculia lychnophora sold on e-commerce platforms are basically wrong.

A clear mess

Why is it that such a common thing is not known to everyone? It is not complicated to explain. There is no wild Sterculia lychnophora in my country. It is 100% imported. Its hometown is in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and India in Southeast Asia. The place of origin does not regard it as a good thing and lacks research; we who treasure it cannot touch the real body, and the generals do not know the soldiers. Isn't this a lack of information?

my country has introduced some Sterculia lychnophora since the 1990s. It can survive in the open field in Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places, and can survive in the greenhouse of the Beijing Botanical Garden, but it has not bloomed for many years. Later, it barely bloomed, but did not bear fruit.

The Sterculia lychnophora is still very beautiful. Photo courtesy: Museum

The history of using Sterculia lychnophora is actually very short. It was first recorded in the Qing Dynasty's "Supplement to Compendium of Materia Medica". Later, "Pharmaceuticals" recorded: "Imported Sterculia lychnophora products include Xinzhouzi (produced in the Malay Peninsula), Siamesezi (produced in Thailand), and Annanzi (produced in Vietnam)". China's "Pharmacopoeia" stipulates that Sterculia lychnophora medicine comes from the only plant, Sterculia lychnophora, which belongs to the genus Sterculia in the family Sterculiaceae.

In fact, there are two common types of Sterculia lychnophora in the medicinal material market, one is slightly larger and longer, and the other is slightly smaller and rounder, both of which can produce large sponges. The Annanzi mentioned in the past belongs to the former, and most of the Xinzhouzi belongs to the latter. It is highly likely that the two are not the same plant at all.

The reason why it is said to be highly probable is because of the problem of "the soldiers do not know the generals" mentioned above. The herb collectors, dealers and buyers are not from the same country - the railway police are in charge of different sections, and no one can tell clearly. The relevant plants are all in foreign countries, and our authoritative books such as "Flora of China" do not record them at all, and there is no authoritative Chinese name.

Long-grain Sterculia lychnophora. Copyright image from the gallery, reprinting and using may cause copyright disputes

The story starts to get interesting from here, and it is guaranteed to dazzle you!

The Sterculia lychnophora in the "Pharmacopoeia" is a relatively long-grained Sterculia lychnophora; the round-grained one is most likely from its relative Sterculia scaphigera, which belongs to the genus Sterculia in the family Sterculiaceae, so the latter was once named "round-grain Sterculia".

With the development of botanical research, they not only separated from the genus Sterculia to become the genus Sterculia, but also merged from the family Sterculia to the family Malvaceae. The original round-grained Sterculia was changed to Scaphium wallichii in many Chinese documents. Now it is embarrassing to call it Sterculia, after all, it is not the genus Sterculia; according to the latest research, this species has been standardized and unified into Scaphium scaphigerum - you can see from the Latin name that the surname Sterculia is called Sterculia, which is the model species of the genus Sterculia, which is commonly known as the "genus long", so its Chinese name should be drafted as "Pangdahai" Benhai. But in the "Pharmacopoeia", it is a non-standard "fake", and the long-grained ones are the standard.

Hand-drawn picture of round-grained Sterculia lychnophora. Photo courtesy: Museum

That's not all. There is another species in the same genus, Scaphium affine, whose Chinese name is "pseudo-pandahai" (according to the Flora of China website). However, according to modern biological evidence, this species later "merged" with the long-grained pandahai Scaphium lychnophora mentioned above, which has changed its genus name.

To sum up, there are only two Latin names used as Sterculia lychnophora in the market today - the "true Sterculia lychnophora" Scaphium affine in medicine is called "pseudo-Sterculia lychnophora" in botany, and the "true" Sterculia lychnophora Scaphium scaphigerum in botany is the "fake Sterculia lychnophora" in medicine.

Neither side's authoritative texts have yet to be updated to formally resolve this issue. Well, that's where the dilemma lies...

Unique hard skills

I'll clean up the 20,000 brain cells that died when I wrote the last paragraph. We won't distinguish between long and round grains, real and fake, and will treat them as one kind below, collectively called Sterculia lychnophora, which makes it easier to write and read.

Sterculia lychnophora is not a grass or a vine, but a tree, a towering tree. In the rain forests of Southeast Asia, Sterculia lychnophora can grow up to 40 meters. What a concept, it is about the height of a 15-story building. It is no wonder that there are almost no pictures of Sterculia lychnophora flowers and fruits on the Internet. When it blooms and bears fruit, who can take pictures!

Forest rangers in Southeast Asia and the base of a Sterculia lychnophora plant. Photo courtesy: Museum

The fruit of Plantago ovata is not a bunch of large green fruits as a merchant on Taobao thinks. It looks like the picture below.

The fruit of Sterculia lychnophora. Photo courtesy: Museum

Dipterocarp fruit. Image source: Wikipedia

That's right, botanists speculate that the reason why their fruit structures are similar is because their trees are too tall, and the fruits will be destroyed if they fall freely. This parachute-like structure can reduce the falling speed and try to ensure the survival of the seeds. This can be said to be a unique skill evolved by tall plants.

The fruit of the Dipterocarpaceae plant fell, and obvious rotation deceleration can be seen. Photo courtesy of the Museum

Although they look similar, their working principles are quite different. The "wings" of camphor trees are specialized calyxes, while the wings of Sterculia lychnophora are its fruit peel.

If you connect it to its close relative, Sterculia styracifolia, you will understand that they are both follicles , and each small fruit looks like a bean. Sterculia styracifolia has multiple seeds in a "pod", while Sterculia styracifolia has only one seed in a "pod" - this is also the difference between the two genera. As they grow, the fruit splits on one side. Sterculia styracifolia looks like a fat bean covered with chestnuts, while Sterculia styracifolia seeds protrude from the peel, which becomes long, large, and dry, forming its parachute.

Fruit of Sterculia strychnifolia. Copyrighted images from the gallery. Reproduction and use may result in copyright disputes. Both Dipterocarpaceae and Malvaceae are members of the Malvaceae order, and are closely related. I wonder if this convergent evolution is related to kinship. Perhaps it is all the wisdom of our ancestors!

The genus Sterculia is also translated as "boat-shaped wood", and you can tell by looking at its fruit.

What makes Plantago ovata more "smart" than Camphor is its seed coat.

Its seed coat has three layers. The outer layer is brittle and thin, and will break if touched. The middle layer is a compact sponge-like substance, mainly composed of polysaccharides. Once soaked in water, it becomes a net-like large fungus, which everyone is familiar with. There has been no special research on this structure, but it can obviously play two roles: cushioning the landing and retaining water for the seeds. If I have the opportunity to visit its place of origin, I would like to see its growth environment and speculate which role is their specialized "original intention".

The middle seed coat before it swells. Photo courtesy of the Museum

Herbs with some risks

There is a certain chemical principle behind soaking Sterculia lychnophora in water to treat sore throats - its ingredients can contract smooth muscles, reduce mucosal inflammation, and have certain antibacterial properties. For symptoms such as congestion and edema of the throat and intestinal mucosa, Sterculia lychnophora is indeed an effective medicine.

However, Sterculia lychnophora also has clear toxicity. In animal experiments, mice were poisoned or even died. Although there are no cases that Sterculia lychnophora can poison humans, there are still risks in taking it for a long time.

If there is someone around you who has the habit of soaking in Sterculia lychnophora for a long time, please send this article to him and advise him to stop.

Drink less if you are not sick, and drink more if you are sick.

In Southeast Asia, the gelatinous polysaccharides in Sterculia lychnophora are often made into food and can be found in roast meat, herbal tea, and stews.

Industrial production also removes the toxic components of Sterculia lychnophora and extracts the gelatinous polysaccharides, which are then mixed into minced meat to improve the properties and taste of the minced meat. The luncheon meat you eat may contain Sterculia lychnophora!

Planning and production

Source: Museum

Author: Xin Fuchen

Editor: Cui Yinghao

The cover image of this article is from the copyright library

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