Chinese toon bark

Tree of heaven Ailanthus bark

[alias]

Root bark of Toona sinensis.

[source]

It is the root bark or trunk of Ailanthus altissima (mill.) Swingle.

[plant morphology]

Deciduous trees. The bark is grayish brown. Leaves alternate, pinnate compound, leaflets 13-25, ovate lanceolate, 7-12cm long, 2-4.5cm wide, apex acuminate, base truncate, 1-2 pairs of thick teeth near the base, a gland on the back of the tooth tip, crumbling with odor. Panicle terminal, flowers small, white with green, miscellaneous. The Samara is flat, oblong, with 1-6 cones attached to a stipe and one seed in the middle of each Samara. The flowering period is June to July and the fruiting period is September.

It grows on hillside, roadside, courtyard and village. It is mainly produced in Zhejiang, Hebei, Hubei and Jiangsu.

[collection and preparation]

In spring and autumn, the root skin or dry skin was peeled, the rough skin was scraped or not, and then dried in the sun.

[character]

The root bark is flat or irregularly rolled, 2-5 (～ 10) cm thick; the outer surface is gray, with many large prominent rhombic lenticels, 1-2cm long, gray white, slightly glossy; the inner surface is light yellow, densely covered with small rhombic dots or small holes. It is hard and tough, with strong fiber and bitter taste. The dry skin is mostly flat and massive, 3-5mm thick, with grayish brown outer surface, irregular vertical and horizontal cracks and pores.

[chemical composition]

The bark contains amarolide, amarolide-11-acetate, shinjulactone, and a variety of toxic alkaloid β - carboline derivatives.

[flavor]

Cold in nature, bitter and astringent in taste.

[functional indications]

Clearing dampness and heat, astringency and hemostasis. For leucorrhea, diarrhea, dysentery, bloody stool.