''Ligusticum striatum'' (syn. ''L. wallichii'') is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

native to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Kashmir, and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

in the carrot family best known for its use in

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of acti ...

where it is considered one of the

50 fundamental herbs Chinese herbology () is the theory of traditional Chinese herbal therapy, which accounts for the majority of treatments in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A ''Nature'' editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", and said that t ...

. It is known by the common name Szechuan lovage. It contains the

phytoprogestogen Phytoprogestogens, also known as phytoprogestins, are phytochemicals (that is, naturally occurring, plant-derived chemicals) with progestogenic effects. Relative to their phytoestrogen counterparts, phytoprogestogens are rare. However, a number hav ...

s 3,8-dihydrodiligustilide and

riligustilide Riligustilide is a nonsteroidal phytoprogestogen that is found in '' Ligusticum chuanxiong''. It is a very weak agonist of the progesterone receptor (EC50 ≈ 81 μM). Another compound in the plant, 3,8-dihydrodiligustilide, is also a phyto ...

Uses

Along with '' Ligusticum wallichii'', L. striatum is one of the possible herbs used to make the Chinese Traditional Medicine ''chuānxiōng'' () It is used in China, with portions of other plants and herbs (such as

monkshood ''Aconitum'' (), also known as aconite, monkshood, wolf's-bane, leopard's bane, mousebane, women's bane, devil's helmet, queen of poisons, or blue rocket, is a genus of over 250 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae. ...

and ''

Rosa banksiae ''Rosa banksiae'', common names Lady Banks' rose, or just Banks' rose, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family, native to central and western China, in the provinces of Gansu, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Sichuan and Yunnan, at alti ...

'') to make a liniment to treat a painful swelling of the joints. It can be used to treat ischemic strokes, improve brain microcirculation and inhibit thrombus formation and platelet aggregation.

References

striatum Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine Flora of China Flora of West Himalaya Flora of Nepal {{medicinal-plant-stub