Shi Da Chuan

Shi Da Chuan (石打穿) is a Pinyin folk-name applied inconsistently in regional Chinese materia medica to several unrelated plants, most commonly Salvia chinensis Benth. (Lamiaceae, also called Zi Shen) and in some sources Penthorum chinense Pursh (Penthoraceae) or Veronica anagallis-aquatica. Without a corroborating Latin name on the source record, definitive species assignment is not possible; the various candidates are small herbaceous perennials of stream banks and damp habitats, with opposite leaves and small white to bluish-violet flowers. Because the identification cannot be confirmed against Bensky & Gamble or the Chinese Pharmacopoeia from the Pinyin alone, this entry follows the unidentifiable null-pattern pending verification.