Identification & Quality Standard
Erodii Herba;Geranii Herba
Botanical Origin
The dried aerial portion of Geranium wilfordii Maxim., Erodium stephanianum Willd., Geranium carolinianum L.( Geraniaceae)
Production Regions
Primarily produced in the Chinese provinces of Shandong, Hebei, Sichuan, Yunnan.
Quality Requirements
Superior medicinal material is green with numerous flowers and fruits.
Macroscopic Features
Geranium wilfordii Maxim.: Stem is relatively thin, slightly short. Leaves are round, 3 or 5 deep cracks, lobes are relatively wide, and edges are incised. Fruit is spherical, 0.3~0.4cm long. Style is 1~1.5cm long, sometimes with 5 cracks rolled upward forming an umbrella-shape. Erodium stephanianum Willd.: Stem is 30~50cm long, 0.3~0.7cm diameter, numerous branches, enlarged joints. Externally grayish-green or purplish, with longitudinal grooves and sparse soft hairs. Brittle texture, fractured surface is yellowish-white, sometimes with a hollow center. Opposing leaves, with thin and long leaf stems; leaves are wrinkled, brittle and easily broken; intact leaves are bipinnate and cracked, lobes are lanceolate. Fruit is long round, 0.5~1cm long. Persistent style is 2.5~4cm long, similar to a stork’s beak, sometimes cracked into 5 lobes in spiral rolls. faint odor; mild taste. Geranium carolinianum L.: Palmate leaves with 5~7 deep cracks, lobes are strips, with 3~5 deep cracks for each lobe.
