P rofessor Zhan Yahua, a traditional Chinese medicine expert at the Hubei University of Chinese Medicine,is very familiar with medicinal resources in Shennongjia,such as Dendranthema indicum,Sanqi(Panax notoginseng),Panax ginseng,Liliaceae,and so on.He,together with Huang Luqi from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Professor Zhang Daigui from Jishou University,edited a book entitled The Checklist of Traditional Chinese Medicine Resources in Shennongjia,which has 4.5 million words and contains nearly 10,000 photographs of Chinese medicinal plants.It also introduces the species of medicinal resources in Shennongjia, including medicinal plants,animals,and minerals that total3,205 species.

In the ancient times,many Chinese and foreign medicine experts came to Shennongjia to collect medicinal herbs.According to The Historical Records of Shengnongjia , “Li Shizhen, an outstanding medical scholar in ancient China,went to Shennongjia and other desolate medicine producing areas in order to collect herbal medicines from Jiajing 42ndto Longqing 1st(i.e.1563-1567).”Much of the introduction to the origin of Chinese medicines recorded in Li Shizhen’s Compendium of Materia Medica involves Shennongjia.

第三章药材王国

“神农香菊、三七类、人参属、七叶一枝花......”谈起神农架的中药材资源，湖北中医药大学中药学专家詹亚华教授如数家珍。他编有《中国神农架中药资源》，与中国工程院院士黄璐琦、吉首大学教授张代贵联合主编的《神农架中药资源图志》，全篇约450万字，收录彩照近10000幅，重点介绍神农架药用资源种类，涵盖药用植物、动物和矿物资源，共计3205种。

古往今来，中外药材专家纷纷入神农架采药。据《神农架志》记载:"嘉靖四十二年至隆庆元年（1563-1572），中国古代杰出的医学家李时珍为寻找药物，足涉廖无人迹的神农架等药材产地"。《本草纲目》对中草药的产地介绍，大多涉及泛神农架地区。

神农谷之春 Spring in Shennong Valley