《中国植物志》|| 防己科 MENISPERMACEAE ||青牛胆属 Tinospora Miers ||青牛胆 Tinospora sagittata (Oliv.) Gagnep.

5．青牛胆（通称）
Tinospora sagittata (Oliv.) Gagnep. in Bull. Soc. Bot. France 55: 45. 1908; Diels in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV. 94: 138. 1910; Rhed. et Wils. in Sargent, Pl. Wils. 1: 390. 1913; Yamamoto in Journ. Soc. Trop. Agr. 13: 40. 1941 et in Taiwania 1: 31. 1948; 中国高等植物图鉴1: 779, 图1557. 1972: Lien in Acta Phytotax. Sin. 13: 36, t.1 (6). 1975; Forman in Kew Bull. 36 (2): 383, fig. 1 (D-E). 1981; Lo et S. Y. Zhao in Guihaia 6: 53. 1986; 广东植物志1: 32, 图32. 1987. ——Limacia sagittata Oliv. in Hook. Icon. Pl. 1749. 1888; Dunn et Tutch. in Kew Bull. Misc. Inf. Add.Ser. 10: 31. 1912——Tinospora capillipes Gagnep. op. cit. 44. 1908 et in Lecomte, Fl. Gen. Indo-Chine 1: 133, t. 14 (11-18). 1908; Diels in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV. 94: 138. 1910; Chun in Sunyatsenia 4: 176, t. 34. 1940; 中国高等植物图鉴补编1: 490. 1982. ——T. imbricata S. Y. Hu in Juurn. Arn. Arb. 35: 195. t. 1 (2). 1954.——T. szechuanensis S. Y. Hu, op. cit. 196, t. 1 (1). 1954.
草质藤本，具连珠状块根，膨大部分常为不规则球形，黄色；枝纤细，有条纹，常被柔毛。叶纸质至薄革质，披针状箭形或有时披针状戟形，很少卵状或椭圆状箭形，长7-15厘米，有时达20厘米，宽2.4-5厘米，先端渐尖，有时尾状，基部弯缺常很深，后裂片圆、钝或短尖，常向后伸，有时向内弯以至二裂片重叠，很少向外伸展，通常仅在脉上被短硬毛，有时上面或两面近无毛；掌状脉5条，连同网脉均在下面凸起；叶柄长2.5-5厘米或稍长，有条纹，被柔毛或近无毛。花序腋生，常数个或多个簇生，聚伞花序或分枝成疏花的圆锥状花序，长2-10厘米，有时可至15厘米或更长，总梗、分枝和花梗均丝状；小苞片2，紧贴花萼；萼片6，或有时较多，常大小不等，最外面的小，常卵形或披针形，长仅1-2毫米左右，较内面的明显较大，阔卵形至倒卵形，或阔椭圆形至椭圆形，长达3.5毫米；花瓣6，肉质，常有爪，瓣片近圆形或阔倒卵形，很少近菱形，基部边缘常反折，长1.4-2毫米；雄蕊6，与花瓣近等长或稍长；雌花：萼片与雄花相似；花瓣楔形，长0.4毫米左右；退化雄蕊6，常棒状或其中3个稍阔而扁，长约0.4毫米；心皮3，近无毛。核果红色，近球形；果核近半球形，宽约6-8毫米。花期4月，果期秋季。
产于湖北西部和西南部、陕西南部（安康）、四川东部至西南部，西至天全一带、西藏东南部、贵州东部和南部、湖南（西部、中部和南部）、江西东北部、福建西北部、广东北部和西部、广西东北部和海南北部。常散生于林下、林缘、竹林及草地上。越南北部也有。模式标本采自宜昌。
块根入药，名“金果榄”，味苦性寒，功能清热解毒。

《Flora of China》|| Menispermaceae || Tinospora ||青牛胆 Tinospora sagittata

5. Tinospora sagittata (Oliver) Gagnepain, Bull. Soc. Bot. France. 55: 45. 1908.

青牛胆 qing niu dan

Herbaceous vines. Roots with small and yellow tuberous swelling. Stems slender, striate, often puberulent. Petiole 2.5-6 cm, puberulent or subglabrous, striate; leaf blade lanceolate-sagittate or sometimes lanceolate-hastate, rarely ovate or elliptic-sagittate, 7-15(-22) × 2-7.5 cm, papery to thinly leathery, usually abaxially puberulent on veins, sometimes adaxially or both surfaces glabrous, base often with deep sinus, basal lobes rounded, obtuse or mucronate, often extending backward, sometimes incurved into 2 folded lobes, rarely extending outside, apex acuminate, sometimes caudate, palmately 5-veined, reticulation prominent or not abaxially. Inflorescences axillary, often a few or many flowers fascicled, cymes, sometimes pseudopanicles, 2-10(-15) cm or sometimes longer; peduncles and pedicels filamentous; bracteoles 2, closely annexed with sepals. Male flowers: sepals 6, sometimes more, often unequal, outermost whorl minute, often ovate or lanceolate, 1-2 mm, inner whorl conspicuously larger, elliptic to broadly elliptic, obovate to broadly obovate, or narrowly lanceolate to narrowly oblong-lanceolate, to 5 mm; petals 6, lobe subrounded or broadly obovate, rarely rhomboidal, often with claw, basal margin often reflexed, 1.4-2 mm. Female flowers: sepals similar to male; petals cuneate, ca. 0.4 mm; staminodes 6, ?oblong, ca. 0.4 mm; carpels 3, subglabrous. Drupes semiglobose, 6-8 mm wide; endocarp 5-8 × 5-8 mm, abaxially rounded or obscurely ridged, smooth or sparsely weakly papillose, adaxial aperture large, broadly elliptic; condyle deeply intrusive. Fl. Apr, fr. autumn.

Forests, grasslands. N Fujian, N and W Guangdong, Guangxi, E and S Guizhou, N Hainan, W Hubei, Hunan, NE Jiangxi, Shaanxi, S Shanxi, Sichuan, SE Xizang, SE Yunnan [N Vietnam].

Forman (Kew Bull. 36: 386. 1981) did not accept the following varieties.