Two taxonomically similar plant species are projected to become the key alternative wild resources to Ardisia crenata Sims.

Severe overharvesting and habitat degradation of Ardisia crenata Sims (ZSG) urgently necessitate sustainable alternatives. Ardisia crenata subsp. crenata (HLS) and Ardisia crispa (Thunb.) A. DC (BLJ) emerge as promising candidates. We comprehensively compared the three plants in terms of morphological characteristics, biomass, bergenin content, metabolite profiles, and therapeutic efficacy. The results showed that the three plants shared 96.5% similarity in their metabolites and key active ingredients. They also exhibited comparable morphological characteristics, biomass, therapeutic effects, and similar serum metabolite profiles in rats with acute pharyngitis. Our findings indicate that HLS and BLJ may be considered as potential alternative medicinal resources. This approach offers potential benefits, including alleviating resource pressure and providing medicinal materials with comparable biomass and efficacy to meet clinical and pharmaceutical needs.