ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE：To make a textual research on ethnic medicine Paederiae Herba，and to provide reference for further research and comprehensive development and utilization of Paederiae Herba. METHODS：Five materia medica works such as Compendium of Materia Medica Collection and Examination of Plant Names and Actual Maps，55 modern materia medica works such as Chinese materia medica and Flora of China published from 1960 to 2016，and a number of literatures were synthesized and sorted out. The name，original species，origins，harvesting and processing，flavor and meridian tropism and so on of P. scandens were studied. Its mainstream varieties were mainly clarified and use of them in various nationalities were sorted out. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS：The name of“Paederiae Herba”was first recorded in the Qing Dynasty’s Examination of Plant Names and Actual Maps. The main variety of Paederiae Herba was Paederia scandens （Lour.） Merr.，also known as “Jishiteng”. The medicinal part was the aboveground part. It distributed in bushes of hillsides，forests，forest margins，valleys and shrubs at an altitude of 200 to 2 000 meters or wound around shrubs. It was mainly produced in the Yangtze River Valley of China and its southern regions. The processing methods are mostly shade-drying or removing impurities，washing，cutting and drying. Its sweet， astringent，flat，and it can be used for digestion，pain relief，detoxification and clearing damp，and can be used for food retention， chest，abdomen and abdomen pain，eczema，sores，swelling and pain. It was used in the folk of Miao，Tujia and Zhuang nationalities in China. There are still some problems such as mixed varieties and different processing methods in the market circulation. All these have brought many challenges to the research of quality standard of Paederiae Herba.