Forsythia suspensa Identity & Plant Part
The botanical entity is Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl, weeping forsythia or lian qiao, a shrub of the Oleaceae with arching branches that carry yellow flowers before the leaves open. The part used is the fruit, a dry, pointed capsule. Leaves, flowers and stems are not part of this ingredient.
Harvest stage changes the material. Green, unripe fruit, called qing qiao in Chinese herbal trade, and ripe, yellow-brown fruit, called lao qiao, are collected at different times and differ in chemistry. The fruit carries phenylethanoid glycosides such as forsythoside A, lignans such as phillyrin, triterpenic acids and a little volatile oil, named only as constituent families.
Forsythia suspensa fruit is collected when the capsule is ripe or just turning, and the dried fruit is the starting material for the extract.












