Five-Leaf Ginseng Bark

original: 五加皮 (Wǔjiāpí); botanical name: Eleutherococcus gracilistylus, also known as Slenderstyle Acanthopanax

Illustration of the Wujiapi Plant

This fine woodcut botanical illustration depicts the Five-leaf Ginseng plant. The image highlights the plant's distinctive leaf patterns—usually arranged in clusters of five leaflets—and its clusters of small berries. In this traditional pharmaceutical woodcut, the plant is shown growing alongside a small decorative rock. This was a common aesthetic in historical Chinese Materia Medica Materia Medica: (Latin) a body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing; in Chinese, these texts are called Bencao manuals, blending scientific observation with the artistic style of classical garden paintings. Such illustrations served as a visual guide for physicians and herbalists to identify the species in the wild.