Sha Shen

Botanical Information

Botanical Classification

Plants of the Campanulaceae family: Saponaria, Apricot-Leaf Saponaria, Wheel-Leaf Saponaria, Yunnan Saponaria, and Soaked Saponaria.

Morphological Characteristics

1. Scrophularia: A perennial herb with a stem 40–80 cm tall. Unbranched, often covered with short, stiff hairs or long, soft hairs. Basal leaves are heart-shaped, large, and long-petiolate; cauline leaves are sessile, or only the lower leaves have extremely short, winged petioles; leaf blades are elliptical or narrowly ovate, with a wedge-shaped base, 3–11 cm long, and 1.5–5 cm wide.The apex is acute or shortly acuminate, with irregularly serrated margins; both surfaces are sparsely covered with short hairs or long stiff hairs, or nearly glabrous. The inflorescence is usually unbranched, forming a pseudraceme, or may have short branches forming a very narrow panicle; very rarely, it has long branches forming a panicle;The pedicel is less than 5 mm long; the calyx is usually covered with short soft hairs or granular hairs, rarely glabrous; the tube is usually obovate, rarely obovate-conical; the lobes number 5, are narrow and elongated, mostly awl-shaped, rarely linear-lanceolate; the corolla is broadly campanulate, blue or purple, glabrous or bristly on the outside; the lobes number 5 and are triangular-ovate;the disk is short-tubular and glabrous; there are 5 stamens, with filaments expanded into lamellae at the base and slender anthers; the style is usually slightly longer than the corolla, with a 3-lobed stigma; the ovary is inferior and 3-chambered. The capsule is ellipsoid-globose, very rarely ellipsoid, 6–10 mm long.Seeds are numerous, brownish-yellow, slightly flattened, with one ridge, and approximately 1.5 mm long. Flowering and fruiting occur from August to October.

2. Apricot-leaved Scrophularia: This species differs from Scrophularia in that the cauline leaves on the upper part of the stem are sessile or have only a short, wedge-shaped petiole; the leaf base often extends downward in a wedge shape; and the basal leaves have long petioles.The inflorescence branches are stout, almost spreading or arching upward; the calyx lobes are ovate to long-ovate, widest in the middle to lower part, usually more or less overlapping, 1.5–4 mm wide; the disk is often hairy, rarely glabrous; the style is as long as the corolla. Flowering period: July–September.

3. Whorled-leaved Scrophularia: This species differs from the previous three in that its leaves are arranged in 3–6 whorls and are ovate to linear-lanceolate. The inflorescence branches are also often arranged in whorls; the disk is relatively short, 2–4 mm long, with a diameter not exceeding 1 mm; the corolla is minute, nearly tubular, slightly constricted at the mouth, with lobes approximately 2 mm long. Flowering period: July–September.

4.Yunnan Scrophularia: This species differs from the previous three in that the stem is often covered with white, multicellular stiff hairs; the cauline leaves are evenly distributed along the stem; they are usually sessile, with leaf blades ranging from ovate to long-ovate or obovate, sparsely covered with rough hairs on the upper surface and densely covered with stiff hairs on the lower surface, or with stiff hairs only along the veins. The inflorescence is a pseudo-raceme; the disk is short and tubular, not exceeding 1 mm in length; the calyx margin has 1–3 pairs of small teeth.Flowering period: August–October.

5. Poria-type Saponaria: This species differs from each of the previous four in that the stem is usually densely covered with short, backward-pointing stiff hairs; the cauline leaves are sessile, with only very rare instances of a wedge-shaped short petiole; the leaf blades are ovate-elliptic, oblong, narrowly elliptic, or obovate, hairy on both surfaces, with 2 to several coarse teeth along the margin.Inflorescences are usually branched at the base; the disk is hairy; the style is nearly as long as the corolla. Flowering period: July–October; fruiting period: October–November.

Distribution Area

1. Sand Ginseng: Distributed in Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, and other areas. 2. Apricot-leaved Sand Ginseng: Distributed in Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, and other areas. 3. Whorled-leaved Sand Ginseng: Distributed in Northeast China, North China, East China, Southwest China, and South China. 4. Yunnan Sand Ginseng: Distributed in Sichuan, Yunnan, and Tibet. 5. Soaked Saponaria: Found in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, and other regions.

Growth Habits

It prefers warm or cool climates and is cold-tolerant. Although it can withstand drought, it requires adequate moisture during the growing season; drought during the seedling stage often causes seedling death. It is best cultivated in deep, fertile, humus-rich, well-drained sandy loam soil.

Propagation Methods

Propagated by seed.

Cultivation Techniques

Sowing can be done in spring or winter. In northern regions, spring sowing takes place in April, while winter sowing is done in November before the ground freezes. Prepare the soil and apply ample base fertilizer—45,000–60,000 kg of compost or manure per hectare.After preparing the soil, create ridges 1 m wide and dig shallow furrows with a row spacing of 40 cm. Scatter the seeds evenly into the furrows, cover with 1–1.5 cm of soil, lightly firm the soil, water, and keep the soil consistently moist. Seeds sown in the spring will germinate in about two weeks, while those sown in the winter will germinate in the following spring.

Pest and Disease Control

1. Diseases include root rot, which can be treated by spraying with a 500-fold dilution of 50% Tebuconazole wettable powder. Brown spot disease can be treated by spraying with a 500-fold dilution of 65% Zinc Dithion wettable powder.

2. Pests include aphids and cutworms.