''Chloranthus japonicus'' is a perennial herb in the

Chloranthaceae Chloranthaceae ( ) is a family of flowering plants (angiosperms), the only family in the order Chloranthales. It is not closely related to any other family of flowering plants, and is among the early-diverging lineages in the angiosperms. They a ...

family.

Distribution

''Chloranthus japonicus'' is found in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, islands of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

such as

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

, and

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

, as well as provinces of

Mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

such as

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

Jilin ) , image_skyline = Changbaishan Tianchi from western rim.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = View of Heaven Lake , image_map = Jilin in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_al ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

, and

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

, at altitudes from above sea level. The plant grows in mixed shaded and damp areas, such as hillsides and groves near standing water.

Description

''Chloranthus japonicus'' has four serrated leaves at orthogonal directions, and a thick

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

used for medicinal purposes. ''C. japonicus'' has an aromatic stem, with diameter from 0.1-1.5mm and a height from 20-50mm. The stem is thin like an arrow shaft. The leaves are umbrella-shaped and grow at the end of the branches. The flowers are light yellow and grow in the center of the four leaves. The roots grow horizontally without root hairs and are best harvested in February and August.

Chemical properties

All parts of the plant, especially the stem, are

hemotoxic Haemotoxins, hemotoxins or hematotoxins are toxins that destroy red blood cells, disrupt blood clotting, and/or cause organ degeneration and generalized tissue damage. The term ''haemotoxin'' is to some degree a misnomer since toxins that damage ...

and reprotoxic to mice, and has organic chemicals such as various chloranthalactones, various atractylenolides, shizukanolide, shizukolidol, shizukafuranol, shizukaol, furanodienone, and scopoletin. Chloranthalactone C is known to have antifungal effects against ''

Mucor circinelloides ''Mucor circinelloides'' is a dimorphic fungus belonging to the Order Mucorales (Phylum Mucoromycota). It has a worldwide distribution, found mostly in soil, dung and root vegetables. This species is described as not known to be able to produce ...

''. The plant is known to act as a

choleretic Choleretics are substances that increase the volume of secretion of bile from the liver as well as the amount of solids secreted. By stimulating the production of bile, the body is better able to release toxins and through acting as a natural laxa ...

, weaker than a equivalent dose of dehydrocholic acid.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5367365 Chloranthaceae Plants described in 1829 Taxa named by Philipp Franz von Siebold Flora of North Korea Flora of Japan Flora of Russia Flora of China