Anatomical variations were investigated in rhizomes of Atractylodes lancea and A. chinensis, which are original plants of chinese natural medicine "Cangzhu". In A. lancea, three groups are recognized. The first group, all members of which are growing in Maoshan mountain, Jiangsu Province, is characterized by having smaller size of oil cavities, little phloem fiber and absence of cotton-like white crystals. The second group is of plants only in Taohuachong, Hubei Province. In the rhizome of this group polarized and thread-like crystals are observed under a microscope. The third group occurring in Anhui, Hubei, Shaanxi, Henan and Shandong Provinces shows rather wide ranges of variations of oil cavities and fibers in phloem and xylem. In contrast to A. lancea, A. chinensis has narrower ranges of variations in rhizome anatomy, and subgroups are not recognized in the species. Compared with A. lancea, A. chinensis, as a whole, has smaller size of oil cavities, and much more fibers in xylem. However, variations of these characteristics are partially or in some cases entirely overlapped with the variations in A. lancea, and there are materials not exactly identified as the one of the two species.
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