Huperzia serrata (Thunb.) Trev.

Huperzia serrata (Thunb.) Trev. 

Photo Michael Sundue, duoclieu.net

Latin Name: Huperzia serrata (Thunb.) Trev.

Family & Genus: Huperziaceae, Huperzia

Synonym Name: Huperzia selago var. serrata (Thunb.) Á. Löve & D. Löve; Huperzia serrata f. intermedia (Nakai) Ching; Huperzia serrata f. longipetiolata (Spring) Ching; Lycopodium javanicum Sw.; Lycopodium sargassifolium Liebm.; Lycopodium serratum Thunb.; Lycopodium serratum f. intermedium Nakai; Lycopodium serratum var. javanicum (Sw.) Makino; Lycopodium serratum var. longipetiolatum Spring; Lycopodium serratum var. myriophyllifolium Hayata; Lycopodium serratum var. thunbergii Makino; Urostachys javanicus (Sw.) Herter; Urostachys myriophyllifolius (Hayata) Herter; Urostachys serratus (Thunb.) Herter; Urostachys serratus (Thunb.) Herter ex Nessel; Urostachys serratus var. japonicaneotropicus Herter ex Nessel          

English Name: Serrate Clubmoss

Vietnamese name: Thạch tùng răng

Chinese name: 蛇足石杉 , she zu shi shan, qiancengta.

Description: Plants terrestrial. Stem erect or ascending, 10-30 cm, 1.5-3.5 mm in diam. at middle, together with leaves 1.5-4 cm wide, 2-4 times dichotomously branched, upper portion often with bulbils. Leaves sparse, attached at right angles with stem, lustrous, narrowly elliptic, conspicuously contracted toward base, straight, 1-3 cm × 1-8 mm, thinly leathery, both surfaces glabrous, midrib conspicuously raised, base cuneate, decurrent, petiolate, margin straight and not crispate, irregularly toothed, apex acute or acuminate; teeth acute at apex, coarse or slightly small. Sporophylls homomorphic with trophophylls; sporangia visible on both sides of sporophylls, yellowish, reniform. Spore stage: June to October.

Distribution: Growing in humid places of forests or on ravine stones. Distributed in Northeast China, the Yangtze River basin, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan.

Part Used: Medical part: entire plant.

Harvest & Processing: Collected entire plant in late summer and early autumn, removed soil, and sun-dried. Collected spore from July and August, and sun-dried.

Chemistry: Entire plant contains alkaloids, such as lycopodine, lycodine, lycodoline, huperzine A, H, Q, P, R, T, W, fawcettimine, phlegmarine, 11a-hydroperoxyphlegmariurine B, 7-hydroperoxy- phlegmariurine B and phlegmariurine B, 2-deoxyhuperzine; triterpernes, such as serratenediol and seratenediol-3-acetate, 14beta, 15beta-epoxyserratan-3beta, 21beta, 29-triol, serrat-14-en-3beta, 21beta, 29-triol, serrat-14-en-3alpha, 21beta, 24, 29-tetraol. Flavonoid: 5,5_’-dihydroxy-2’, 4_’-dimethoxyflavone-7-O-beta-D-(6_’’-O-Z-p-couma-royl)-glucopyranoside.

Pharmacology:  Alzheimer’s, cognitive decline,  neuroprotection, protection against hypoxic-ischemic toxicity, anti-inflammatory activity, antinociceptive activity, anticonvulsant activity, organophosphate poisoning, myasthenia gravis, cognitive ability, schizophrenia, hypertension-reducing, miotic, anticholinesterase, central-nervous-system-inhibiting, neuromuscular-relaxing, earning and memory enhancing.

Properties & Actions: Bitter, pungent, little sweet, neutral, mild-toxic. Dissipating stasis, arresting bleeding, dispersing swelling, relieving pain, removing damp, clearing heat and detoxifying.

Indications & Usage: Injuries from falls, over-strained hemoptysis, hematuria, piles and hemorrhage, edema and tumescence, leucorrhea, pyogenic infections, lingering ulcers, scalding and burns. Oral administration: decocting, 5-15g; or extracted juice. External application: appropriate amount, prepared decoction for washing, triturated for application, powdered and scattered, or triturated for application. Not use in case of pregnancy.

Examples      

1. Spitting pus and blood due to pulmonary abscess: fresh leaves of serrate clubmoss herb 30g. Pestle to collect juice, prepare with honey and swallow.

2. Coughing up blood due to impairment caused by overstrain, chest distress: serrate clubmoss herb fresh whole herb 30g. Decoct in water and swallow.

References

Chinese Medicinal Material Images Database

efloras.org

Theplantlist

Hui Zhou, Yun-Sen Li, Xiao-Tian Tong, Hui-Qing Liu, Shan-Hao Jiang & Da-Yuan Zhu (2004) Serratane-type Triterpenoids from Huperzia Serrata, Natural Product Research, 18:5, 453-459
Ferreira A, Rodrigues M, Fortuna A, Falcão A, Alves G. Huperzine A from Huperzia serrata: a review of its sources, chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology. Phytochem Rev. 2016;15(1):51–85.