竹节前胡 zhu jie qian hu

Plants 60–90 cm, essentially glabrous. Rootstock elongate, woody, bearing annular leaf scars. Basal leaves several; petioles rigid; leaf blade broadly triangular, 3-pinnatisect, pinnae 5–7 pairs; ultimate segments ovate-lanceolate (sometimes oblong or linear), base cuneate or decurrent, 1–3-toothed or -lobed, 1–3(–4) × 0.4–1.5 cm, thinly coriaceous, abaxially glaucous. Umbels 4–8 cm across; peduncles stout; bracts absent or occasionally 1–2, linear, membranous; rays 12–26, unequal, 1–4 cm, 4-angled, inner faces scaberulous; bracteoles 2–4, linear or subulate, shorter than flowers; umbellules 10–20-flowered. Calyx teeth obsolete. Petals white. Fruit long-ellipsoid, 3–5 × 2.5–3 mm, glabrous; lateral ribs broadly winged, wings rather thick; vittae 1–2 in each furrow, 4–6 on commissure. Fl. Jul–Aug, fr. Sep–Oct.

Moist rocky slopes; 600–1500 m. Chongqing, SW Hubei.

The root is used in Chongqing as a regional substitute, known as “zhu jie fang feng,” for the traditional Chinese medicine “fang feng” (see Saposhnikovia divaricata).