蕨叶藁本 jue ye gao ben

Ligusticopsis pteridophylla (Franchet) Leute.

Plants 30–80 cm, glabrous. Rootstock swollen at nodes, small globose, internodes slender. Stem erect, striate and hollowed. Basal and lower petioles 15–20 cm; blade ovate, 15–20 × 10–15 cm, ternate-2–3-pinnate, primary pinnae 5–7 pairs, remote; ultimate segments obovate or flabelliform, ca. 10 × 5 mm, acute at apex, margins crenate. Upper leaves reduced. Umbels terminal and lateral, 5–7 cm across; bracts 8–10, linear; rays 13–20, subequal, 2–3 cm; bracteoles 6–10(–12), linear. Calyx teeth obsolete. Petals white or purplish tinged, base cuneate. Fruit oblong, ca. 5 × 3 mm, dorsal and intermediate ribs prominent, lateral ribs narrowly winged; vittae 3 in each furrow, 4–6 on commissure. Seed face plane. Fl. Aug–Sep, fr. Sep–Oct. 2n = 44*.

Forests, grassy slopes, streamsides, rock crevices; 1800–3600 m. S Gansu, W Sichuan, E Xizang, Yunnan.

This species is used in NW Yunnan (Dali area) as a regional substitute, known as “hei gao ben,” for the traditional Chinese medicine “gao ben” (see Ligusticum sinense and L. jeholense).