Abstract
Korean folk medicine 'Da Rae Ip' has been used to cure intestinal catarrh, stomach cancer and acute gastritis. The botanical origin of the crude drug has never been studied pharmacognostically. To clarify the botanical origin of 'Da Rae Ip', the morphological and anatomical characteristics of the leaves of Actinidia species growing in Korea and Japan; i.e. A. arguta, A. arguta var. rufinervis, A. kolomikta, A. polygama, A. rufa were studied. As a result, it was clarified that 'Da Rae Ip' was the leaf of Actinidia arguta and Actinidia polygama.
