S hennongjia Forestry District is rich in such soil types as yellow brown soil,brown soil,and dark brown soil.There is a well-developed river system with more than 300 rivers of various lengths.“The rich and diverse medicinal resources in Shennongjia are the products of its unique landscapes and complex geological conditions,”Zhan Yahua explains,“Above all,such suitable natural conditions provide a perfect growing environment for various medicinal resources.”

格桑花海（龔建國(guó)攝）Gesang flower sea(Photo by Gong Jianguo)

Such a fantastic natural environment makes the Chinese medicinalresources of Shennongjia unique in all of Central China,thus earning it the reputation of“the Natural Medicine Garden.”O(jiān)n Shennongjia’s area of3253 square kilometers,3684 kinds of higher plants were found.Among them 70%are herbal plants.There are all together 3205 varieties of medicinal resources in Shennongjia,covering medicinal plants, medicinal animals, and medicinal mines.According to the fourth national survey of Chinese medicine resources,Shennongjia’s herbs are divided into 252 families which include 1081 genera,covering one sixths of the total TCM resources in China,and over two thirds ofthat in Hubei.

《神農(nóng)架中藥資源圖志》The Checklist of Traditional Chinese Medicine Resources in Shennongjia

夢(mèng)幻大九湖（劉慶軍攝）Beautifulclouds and their reflections in Dajiu Lake(Photo by Liu Qingjun)

Professor Zhang Daigui from the School of Resources and Environmental Science at Jishou University pointed out that not only was Shennongjia rich in species,but also almost all of them could be utilized.Therefore traditional Chinese medicine has long been used by the locals,more than 160 well-known Chinese folk herbal medicines that are represented by“18 medicalherbs named‘Gold Hairpins,’” “36 medicinal herbs named‘Huanyang,’”and“72 medicinal herbs named‘Seven.’” Furthermore,as Wang Yubing,professor from the School of Biology and Pharmacy at Three Gorges University introduced,because of the abundant,unique,and high-quality resources in Shennongjia,the herbal medicines here have greater medicinal value and thus can be sold for higher prices than those from other areas. For example, Dendrobium flexicaule is usually sold for 3000 yuan per catty online;when produced in Shennongjia,however,it often costs 10,000 to 15,000 yuan.

“天然藥園”百花齊放

林區(qū)土壤類型豐富，有黃棕壤、棕壤、暗棕壤等，且全區(qū)水系發(fā)達(dá)，共有大小河流300多條?！吧褶r(nóng)架地形地貌奇特、地質(zhì)條件復(fù)雜，也促成了藥材資源的豐富多樣?！闭瞾喨A解釋道，“總而言之，諸多適宜的自然條件為多種藥用資源生長(zhǎng)提供了絕佳環(huán)境?！?/p>

得天獨(dú)厚的自然環(huán)境，造就了神農(nóng)架獨(dú)步華中的中醫(yī)藥健康養(yǎng)生資源，為其贏得“天然藥園”美譽(yù)。在神農(nóng)架3253平方公里土地上，分布高等植物3684種，有70%為中草藥品。神農(nóng)架藥用資源種類，涵蓋藥用植物、藥用動(dòng)物、藥用礦物資源，共計(jì)3205種。據(jù)第四次中藥資源普查，神農(nóng)架中草藥品種共有252科1081屬2552種，資源總種類占全國(guó)中藥資源的1/6以上，占湖北全省中藥資源的2/3以上。

吉首大學(xué)資源與環(huán)境科學(xué)學(xué)院張代貴教授指出，神農(nóng)架不僅物種豐富，而且?guī)缀跞靠梢岳?，故而民間長(zhǎng)期有用中藥的傳統(tǒng)，以“十八金釵”、“三十六還陽”、“七十二七”等為代表的160余種民間中草藥聞名遐邇。而且，據(jù)三峽大學(xué)生物與制藥學(xué)院副教授王玉兵介紹，由于神農(nóng)架資源豐富、獨(dú)特、優(yōu)質(zhì)，當(dāng)?shù)氐闹胁菟幩幱脙r(jià)值更高，所以售價(jià)也更高。比如，普通的曲莖石斛在網(wǎng)上通常賣到3000元每斤，而神農(nóng)架產(chǎn)的曲莖石斛一般售價(jià)在10000到15000之間。