[A pharmacognostical study on the fruits of Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cuss]

The fruits of three species are used as the Chinese drug "Shechuangzi", namely Cnidium monnieri, C. monnieri var. formosana and C. japonicum, among which only C. monnieri is the real sort. The authors have distinguished them by macroscopic and microscopic structures and TLC. The total coumarin, trace element and amino acid contents are reported.