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Stephania tetrandra
Botryodiscia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Menispermaceae. It includes a single species, Botryodiscia tetrandra, is a herbaceous perennial vine or scrambling subshrub native to southern China, Hainan, Taiwan, and Vietnam. It grows from a short, woody caudex, climbing to a height of around three meters. The leaves are arranged spirally on the stem, and are peltate, i.e. with the leaf petiole attached near the centre of the leaf. Its root is used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
The species was first described as Stephania tetrandra by Spencer Le Marchant Moore in 1875. In 2024 Lian Lian and Wei Wang placed it in the newly described monotypic genus Botryodiscia as Botryodiscia tetrandra.
From the article Botryodiscia on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Range & habitat
Botryodiscia tetrandra occurs in shrublands at village margins, open fields, and roadsides in South Central and East China in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces, in Taiwan, and in Vietnam.
Wikipedia: “Distribution and habitat”
In medicine
Botryodiscia tetrandra is among the 50 fundamental herbs used in TCM. The standard pinyin according to the Chinese [Herbal] Pharmacopia of the People's Republic of China (Chinese: 中华人民共和国药典; pinyin: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Yao Dian) is: fen fang ji (Chinese: 粉防己; pinyin: fěn fáng jǐ), but it is more commonly known as Han Fang ji (Chinese: 漢防己; pinyin: hàn fáng jǐ).
Wikipedia: “Etymology in Chinese medicine”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Stephania tetrandra in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 737284.