Abstract
The Chinese crude drug, 'Man Sam(蔓蔘)', which is derived from the root of Codonopsis plants of the family Campanulaceae, has been used as a tonic. In China, the same crude drug derived from Codonopsis plants, called 'Dang Same(?蔘)', has been used as remedies for anorexia, fatigue, cough, etc. Although Codonopsis roots have been widely used for medicinal purposes in Korea, the botanical origin of the crude drug has never been studied pharmcognostically. To clarify the botanical origin of 'Man Sam', the root morphology and anatomy were examined for the Korean species of Codonopsis species, such as C. lanceolata (Sieb. et Zucc.) Trautv., C. pilosula (Franch.) Nannf. and C. ussuriensis (Rupr. et Maxim.) Hemsl. The study shows that 'Man Sam' is the root of Codonopsis pilosula.
