Small Child's Skirt

Small Child's Skirt original: Xiaoer qun (小兒裙)

The illustration depicts the plant known as the Small Child's Skirt original: Xiaoer qun (小兒裙). The image shows two individual stalks with elongated, lanceolate leaves spear-shaped leaves that are longer than they are wide and taper to a point emerging from the ground. The entire scene is contained within a rectangular frame with the three-character title positioned at the top.

This image is a fine example of pre-modern Chinese scientific illustration. It utilizes the woodblock printing style that was standard for pharmaceutical and botanical literature during the Ming and Qing dynasties spanning from 1368 to 1912. Such illustrations were vital for doctors and foragers to correctly identify plants in the wild. The name "Small Child's Skirt" is likely a descriptive folk name, suggesting that the plant's low-growing, spreading foliage resembles the shape or pleats of a young child's garment.