Medicinal plants

1 Characteristics of the genetic resources

2 The present situation, and causes and threats to genetic diversity

3 The protection and sustainable utilization of genetic diversity

1 Characteristics of the genetic resources

China is an immense country in relation to traditional medicinal herbs. There is also a long history related to the study and use of medicinal plants. Traditional Chinese medical science is a precious cultural heritage for China and the world.

Because of the vast expense of land and complicated natural environment, China has rich resources and a great variety of medicinal plants. According to statistics, there are 12,807 kinds of Chinese medicine. Of these, 11,146 (80%) are plants, 1,581 are animal medicines and 80 are mineral ones. Three hundred and twenty medicinal plants are most commonly used. The storage capacity is 8.5 million t.

China is also a multinational country of 56 nationalities. The ethnic groups of Han, Zang, Meng, Wei, and Dai, have studied and extensively utilized Chinese medicines. Much experience in the application of herbs has been accumulated over a long history. According to statistics, 3,781 ethnic medicines are in use among the 25 minority nationalities in Yunnan Province.

China has a long history of Chinese medicinal plant cultivation. Tsao (Chinese date), peach and plum, which are used both as medicine and fruit, were cultivated 2,600 years ago, as recorded in The Book of Songs. The first classical medicinal work, Classic of Shennong Materia Medica, was published in 100~200 AD and laid the foundation of Chinese medicine and pharmacy. Recorded in it were 365 medicines. Among these, 252 were herbal, 67 were animal and 46 were mineral medicines. In the Compendium of Materia Medica by Li Shizhen (1518~1593 A.D.) in the Ming Dynasty, 1,892 Chinese traditional medicines, 11,096 prescriptions, 738 drawins of plants, and the cultivation methods for many plant medicines, e. g., Schizonepeta tenuifolia, Ophopagon japonicus and Aconitum were recorded, illustrated and described.

The fundamental characteristics of the medicinal plant resource diversity in China can be summarized as follows:

A. Great variety of wild herbal medicinal plant species

There are 7,137 medicinal plants in China at present according to the record of Xin Hua Compendium of Materia Medica (Jiangsu Iustitute of Botany, 1988~1991), of which 492 species are cultivated and 237 are cultivated extensively. These are, however, mostly wild species. Around half of the 584 plant medicines recorded in Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China, published in 1990, are wild. Almost all herbal medicines extensively used by people are wild species.

B. Great diversity of cultivated species and strain

Rich and colorful local cultivars have been developed during a long history of horticulture in China. For example, Panax ginseng has many local varieties such as, Dmaya, Ermaya Changbo, Yuanbang and Yuanlu. Momordica grosvenori has five local varieties, i. e., Changtanguo, Lajiangguo, Dongguahanguo, Qingpiguo and Hongmaogou. The local varieties of Rehmannia glutinosa are even more abundant, for examle, Jinzhuangyuan, Xingazhuangyuan, Bajzhuangyuang, Hongshuwang, Xingeda, Guolimao and Daqingying.

C. Abundant wild relatives of cultivated plants

Although there is no data on the number of medicinal plant relatives in China at present, the high richness is undoubted. For example, the valuable cultivated Panax ginseng has many wild relative species, e. g., Panax stipuleanthus, P. japonicus var. major, P. zingiberensis, P. notoginseng, P. pseudoginseng, P. japonicus var. japonicus, P. japonicus var. angustifolius and P. japonicus var. bipinnatifidus. Similarly there are as many as 17 relatives of Fritillaria spp. and more than 20 of Aconitun carmichaeli.

2 The present situation, and causes and threats to genetic diversity

The great variety of medicinal plants are threatened seriously in China. Among the “List of Precious Plants in Imminent Danger in China” revised and promulgated in 1987 by the Environmental Protection Commission of the State Council, 109 out of 389 species are medicinal plants, which makes up 28% of the total. The medicinal plants Panax ginseng, Oplopanax elatus, Gastrodia elata, Acanthopanax senticosus, Panax pseudo-ginseng, Dimocarpus longan, Changium smyrnioides and Cephalotaxus hainanensis, are confronted with imminent danger and have become protected species. The endangering factors are as follows:

A. Excessive picking and digging

The principle threat to medicinal plants comes from excessive picking and digging. For example, the main production area for Ephedrae was Inner Mongolia in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Ephedrae resources were seriously damaged by 10~20 years of picking and digging. E. sinica, E. intermedia and E. leptidosperma, the raw materials for extraction of ephetonin, were in imminent danger and classified as major protective objects by the Ministry of Agriculture. Some species of Stephania (with the medicinal name “ Shanwugui”) (Menispermaceae), are on the verge of extinction because of plundering-like picking and digging by local farmers in Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Sichuan and Guizhou Provinces/Autonomous Regions in the 1970’s.

B. Forests destroyed for cultivation

The large scale felling of forests has resulted in the wrecking of almost all the contained medicinal plants, especially in the tropics and subtropics.

C. Excessive herding and reclamation of grassland

Excessive herding, especially the irrational reclamation of alpine meadows, arid steppe and desert regions, has destroyed the primary vegetation. Many wild medicinal plants have been reduced and some have even become extinct.

D. Urban and industrial development

The development of the economy and urbanization has led to the construction of new cities and mines. Vast areas of land with its forests and grasslands have been reclaimed, resulting in the destruction of wild medicinal plant resources. For example, Jianqiao in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, used to be the cultivation base for medicinal plants such as Rehmannia glutinosa var. lutea, and Ophiopogon japonicus. It was, however, ruined by the pace of industrialization and the germplasm resources have disappeared.

E. Tourism

Some famous scenic spots and natural protection areas have been developed and opened up to tourists in recent years. Local medicinal plants have suffered damage to different degrees. Shoushen (Gymnadenia conospsea) (Orchidaceae) growing in the high mountains at 2,100 meters above sea level in Wuling Mountain State Nature Reserve, Hebei Province, is at the edge of extinction because of collection by tourists.

3 The protection and sustainable utilization of genetic diversity

The State Council released “The Regulations for the Protection and Management of Wild Medicinal Resources” and published the “List of Precious Plants in Imminent Danger in China” in 1987. More than 100 botanical gardens and tree gardens have been established in different regions of China and have played a role in the protection of medicinal plant resources. More than 50 species of protected medicinal plants are listed in Table 1. Nevertheless, much work needs to be done to investigate China’s medicinal plant resources, their in situ and ex situ protection, and to reduce and to eliminate anthropogenic destruction.

Table 1 Protected medicinal plants in botanical gardens in China

Medicinal efficacy	Species	Breeding material
anti-senise, nourishing and tonic	Astragalus membranaceus	Seed
	A. mambranaceus var. mengholicus	Seed
	Epimedium brevicornum	Seed
	Gynostemma pentaphyllum	Seed, stem
	G. laxum	Seed
	Acanthopanax senticosus	Seed
	Panax ginseng	Seed
	Glycine soga.	Rhizome
	Schisandra chinensis	Seed
	S. incarnata	Seed
Tranquiliser, promotes micro-circulate and an anti-carcinogen	Physochlaina physaloides	Seed
	Cephalotaxus fortunei	Nursery stock
	C. mannii	Nursery stock
	Taxus spp.	Seed, nursery stock
	Dysosma spp.	Seedling
Antirheumatic	Dioscorea nipponca	Seed, rhizome
	Liriodendron chinense	Seed
	Periploca sepium	Nursery stock
	Acanthopanax gracilistylus	Nursery stock
	Aralia cordata	Nursery stock
	Tripterygium wilfordii	Seed
Analgesic Hypotensor	Stephania spp.	Root tuber
	Apocynum venetum	Nursery stock
	Ervatamia hainanensis	Seed, nursery stock
	Rauvolfia verticillata	Seed
	R. verticillata var. hainanehsis	Seed
	R. yunnanensis	Seed
Expels heat and toxic matter	Scutellaria baicalensis	Seed
	S. rehderiana	Seed, seedling
	S. barbata	Seed
Anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory	Coptis spp.	Seedling
	Juglans mandshurica	Seed, seedling
	Phelladendron amurense	Seed, seedling
Allay fever and invigorate the function of the liver	Bupleurum chinense	Seedling, seed
	B. scorzonerifolium	Seed
Relieve a cough and ease asthma	Fritillaria spp.	Seed
	Ephedra sinica.	Nursery stock
	E. equsetina	Nursery stock
	Polygala tenuifolia	Seed
	P. sibirica	Seed
	Glehnia littoralis	Seed
Anti-dizziness	Gastrodia elata	Setm tuber
Fragrance and invigorates the function of stomach	Amomum villosum	Seed
	A. longiligulare	Rhizome
	A. aurantiacum
Astringent antidiarrheal	Davidia involucrata	Seed
Laxative	Rheum palmatum	Seed
	R. palmatum var. tanguticum	Seed
Activates blood and disperses stagnation	Salvia miltiorrhiza	Seed
	S. miltiorrhiza f. alba	Seed