《中国植物志》|| 萝藦科 ASCLEPIADACEAE ||牛皮消组 Sect. Endotropis (Endl.) Schneid. ||白首乌 Cynanchum bungei Decne.

11. 白首乌（山东）泰山何首鸟、何首乌（山东）；地葫芦、山葫芦、野山药（河北） 图版114（8-13）
Cynanchum bungei Decne. in DC. Prodr. 8: 549. 1844; Franch. Pl. Dav. 209. 1844; Maxim. in Bull. Acad. Sci. St. Petersb. 23: 376. 1877; Hance in Journ. Bot. 21: 323. 1883; Forbes et Hemsl. in Journ. Linn. Soc . Bot. 26: 105. 1889; Kitagawa, Lin. Fl. Manch. 362. 1939 et in Journ. Jap. Bot. 16: 19. 1940; 裴鉴、周太炎, 中国药用植物志, 第四册, 图185. 1965;中国高等植物图鉴, 3: 475, 图4903. 1974.——Asclepias hastata Bunge in Mem. Acad. Sci. St. Petersb. Sav. Etrang. 2: 117. 1832, non Cynanchum hastatum Lam. , nec Cynanchum hastatum Pers. ——Symphyoglossum hastatum Turcz. in Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 21: 255. 1848.——Vincetoxacum hastatum O. Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pars 1: 424. 1891.
攀援性半灌木；块根粗壮；茎纤细而韧，被微毛。叶对生，戟形，长3-8厘米，基部宽1-5厘米，顶端渐尖，基部心形，两面被粗硬毛，以叶面较密，侧脉约6对。伞形聚伞花序腋生，比叶为短；花萼裂片披针形，基部内面腺体通常没有或少数；花冠白色，裂片长圆形；副花冠5深裂，裂片呈披针形，内面中间有舌状片；花粉块每室1个，下垂；柱头基部5角状，顶端全缘。蓇葖单生或双生，披针形，无毛，向端部渐尖，长9厘米，直径1厘米；种子卵形，长1厘米，直径5毫米；种毛白色绢质，长4厘米。花期6-7月，果期7-10月。
产于辽宁、内蒙古、河北、河南、山东、山西、甘肃等省区，约在北纬34-42°之间。生长于海拔1500米以下的山坡、山谷或河坝、路边的灌木丛中或岩石隙缝中。分布于朝鲜釜山。模式标本采自北京附近。
块根肉质多浆，栓皮层层剥落，质坚色白，味苦甘涩，为山东泰山一带四大名药之一，为滋补珍品。

《Flora of China》|| Asclepiadaceae || Cynanchum ||白首乌 Cynanchum bungei

27. Cynanchum bungei Decaisne in A. de Candolle, Prodr. 8: 549. 1844.

白首乌 bai shou wu

Asclepias hastata Bunge, Enum. Pl. China Bor. 43, n. 146. 1833, not Cynanchum hastatum Lamarck (1786); Symphyoglossum hastatum (Bunge) Turczaninow; Vincetoxi-cum hastatum (Bunge) Kuntze.

Root tubers 3-7 × 1.5-4 cm. Stems twining, to 4 m, slender, puberulent. Leaves opposite; petiole 1-1.5 cm; leaf blade hastate or narrowly ovate-triangular, 3-8 × 1-5 cm, membranous, hispid, base cordate, basal lobes rounded, recurved, apex acuminate; lateral veins 4-6 pairs. Inflorescences umbel-like, to 4 × 2.5 cm; peduncle 1.5-2.5 cm. Pedicel ca. 1 cm. Sepals lanceolate, ca. 1.5 × 0.7 mm, glabrous; basal glands present, few. Corolla white or yellowish green, rotate; tube ca. 1 mm; lobes oblong, ca. 4 × 2.5 mm, acute, strongly reflexed, minutely puberulent adaxially near center, otherwise glabrous. Corona deeply 5-lobed; lobes lanceolate, ca. 3.5 mm, longer than gynostegium, with slender, ligulate, adaxial appendage incumbent on anther. Anther appendages ovate; pollinia oblong. Follicles lanceolate in outline, 9-10 × ca. 1 cm, with 2 inconspicuous longitudinal ridges, glabrous. Seeds ovate, ca. 1 × 0.5 cm; coma ca. 4 cm. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Jul-Nov.

Thickets, roadsides, valleys; ca. 1500 m. Gansu, Hebei, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shandong, Shanxi, Zhejiang [Korea]

The root tuber is used as medicine for lumbago, neurasthenia, and insomnia. The plant is the basis of an important Chinese tonic medicine.