''Sarcandra glabra'' is a herb native to Southeast Asia. It is also known as herba sarcandrae or glabrous sarcandra herb. Its common names include the nine-knotted flower and the bone-knitted lotus. Aromatic oils may be extracted from the leaves. This extract has been shown in mice to reduce immunologic attenuation due to stress.

Morphology

Leaf blade elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, 6–17 × 2–6 cm, leathery, margin sharply coarsely-serrate. Stamen baculate to terete; thecae shorter than connective. Stigma subcapitate. Fruit globose or ovoid, 3–4 mm in diam.

Distribution

The plant is distributed in Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Cambodia, Malaysia, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and, in China (Jiangxi, Anhui, Fujian, Guizhou, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangdong, Zhejiang and other places), growing at an altitude of 420 meters to 1,500 meters, often growing on wet slopes and in shaded valleys.

Use in Japanese culture

The plant is used during

Japanese New Year The is an annual festival that takes place in Japan. Since 1873, the official Japanese New Year has been celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar, on January 1 of each year, . Prior to 1872, traditional events of the Japanese New Year wer ...

for '' chabana'' decoration, normally along winter jasmine. Others plants used instead of ''Sarcandra glabra'' because of its similarity to it are coralberry trees and '' Ardisia japonica''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2746875 Chloranthaceae Medicinal plants Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine