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Margined Chinese Thorowax
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Margined Chinese Thorowax
ative Photo: Gurcharan Singh
Common name: Margined Chinese Thoroughwax, Sickle-leaved Hare's Ear • Hindi: Singu, जंगली जीरा Jangli jeera
Botanical name: Bupleurum marginatum    Family: Apiaceae (Carrot family)
Synonyms: Bupleurum falcatum var. marginatum

Margined Chinese Thoroughwax is an erect perennial herb with a few stout stems 60-75cm tall, arising from a woody horizontal rhizome. Stems are usually corymbosely branched towards the top. Leaves are linear- lanceshaped or inverted lance-shaped, 6-15 cm long, 3-8 mm wide, long-pointed, base flat, stem-clasping, with whitish cartilage-like margin prominently wide. Flowers are small, yellow. Umbellules are 6-12-flowered, 5-10 mm across, 4-8 per umbel. Bracts are 2-5, small, unequal, linear 4 x 1 mm; bracteoles 4-5, lanceolate 1.5-2.5 x 1 mm, long-pointed, about half as long as flowers. Fruit is oblong-ovoid 3-4 x 2-2.5 mm, ribs prominent, whitish. Flower-stalks are distinctly longer than bracteoles in fruit. Margined Chinese Thoroughwax is found in the Himalayas, from Pakistan to Bhutan, at altitudes of 1500-4000 m. Flowering: May-August.
Medicinal uses: Chinese Thoroughwax is one of the more important herbs used in Oriental medicine. It has a reputation for its ability to relieve liver tension and digestive disturbances, and because it is detoxifying and antimicrobial. It can be used to relieve spasms, muscle tension, lumps, bleeding due to heat and menstrual irregularity. The essential oil in Bupleurum is responsible for its ability to relieve surface heat.

Identification credit: Gurcharan Singh Photographed on Shankeracharya hill, Kashmir.

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