Old Crow Petal

Tulipa?edulis

Chinese Flora>>? vol. 14? >>? Liliaceae?>>? Tulipa

1. Old crow's-footed mushroom (Compendium of Chinese Herbal Medicine) Plate 22: 8-10

The bulbous skin is papery, densely villous on the inner surface. Stem 10-25 cm long, usually unbranched, glabrous. Leaves 2, oblong, 10-25 cm long, much longer than flowers, usually 5-9 mm wide, a few may be as narrow as 2 mm or as wide as 12 mm, glabrous above. Flowers solitary terminal, with 2 opposite (less frequently 3 whorled) bracts near base of flower, bracts narrowly striate, 2-3 cm long; tepals narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, 20-30 mm long, 4-7 mm wide, white, abaxially with purplish-red longitudinal stripes; stamens 3 longer and 3 shorter, filaments glabrous, slightly enlarged at middle, tapering toward ends or narrowing from base upward; ovary long ellipsoid; styles ca. 4 Ovary long ellipsoid; style ca. 4 mm. Capsule subglobose, with long beak, 5-7 mm long. Fl. March-April, fr. April-May.

Originally from Liaoning (Andong), Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, and Shaanxi (Taibai Shan). Grasslands and roadsides on mountain slopes. It is also found in Korea and Japan.

The bulb is used medicinally, with the effect of subduing heat and removing toxins, dispersing knots and swelling, and extracting starch.