✵The article describes the herb Tree-of-heaven Bark, including its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavor, and its botanical source—(1) Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle—along with a detailed introduction to the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environment of this species, as well as the characteristics of the herb, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Cortex Ailanthi (Tree-of-heaven Bark)
Pinyin Name: Chūn Pí
English Name: Tree-of-heaven Bark; Ailanthus Bark
Latin Name:Cortex Ailanthi Properties and Flavor: Cold, bitter, astringent
Brief Introduction:Cortex Ailanthi is the dried root bark or stem bark of Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle, used to treat diarrhea, chronic dysentery, metrorrhagia, leukorrhea, and prolapse of the uterus. It is commonly known as Cortex Ailanthi, Tree-of-heaven Bark, or Chūn Pí.
Botanical Source: Classical and official herbal works define Cortex Ailanthi (Tree-of-heaven Bark) as the dried root bark or stem bark of (1) Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle, a plant of the genus Ailanthus Desf., family Simaroubaceae (quassia family), order Sapindales. This commonly used species is introduced.
(1) Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle
Botanical Description:Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle is also known as Toxicodendron altissimum (Mill.) Kuntze (syn. Taxicodendron altissima Mill.). Common names include Chūn Shù, Chòu Chūn, Bái Chūn, and Chūn Shù. It is a deciduous tree reaching up to 20 m in height. The bark is smooth with longitudinal fissures; young shoots are reddish-brown and sparsely pubescent. Leaves are imparipinnate and alternate, 45–90 cm long; leaflets 13–25, opposite or subopposite, chartaceous (papery), ovate-lanceolate, 7–12 cm long and 2.5–4 cm wide; apex is acuminate, base is obliquely truncate, margins are entire except for 1–2 pairs of coarse teeth on each side, each tooth bearing a single gland on its abaxial apex.
Inflorescences are terminal panicles; flowers are polygamous (functionally unisexual on the same plant), greenish-white; pedicels are 1–2.5 mm long; sepals 5, imbricate, lobes 0.5–1 mm long; petals 5, 2–2.5 mm long, with hirsute flanks at the base; stamens 10 in male flowers, filaments are densely hirsute at the base and longer than the petals; in female flowers, filaments are shorter than the petals; anthers are oblong, ~1 mm long; carpels 5, styles are fused, stigma is 5-lobed.
Fruit is a samara, oblong-elliptic, 3–5 cm long and 1–1.2 cm wide; seed located centrally within the wing, oblate. Flowering occurs from April to May; fruiting from August to September.
Ecological Environment: Widely naturalized and cultivated worldwide. Commonly found near dwellings, villages, roadsides, and wastelands, at elevations below 2,700 m.
Growth Characteristics: Prefers warm, humid climates; highly tolerant of heat, cold, drought, and saline-alkaline soils; intolerant of shade and waterlogging. Optimal cultivation sites are sunny, well-drained fields with deep, loose, fertile sandy loam or loam soil.
Characteristics of the Herb: Root bark: Irregular blocks or rolled tubes of varying size and thickness (2–5 mm, up to 10 mm). Outer surface is yellowish-gray (sallow) or yellowish-brown, coarse and rough, with conspicuous, vertically elongated, slightly protuberant lenticels; outer cork may exfoliate, revealing a yellowish-white layer beneath. Inner surface is primrose-yellow (pale yellow), flat, densely covered with fine, prismatic (spindle-shaped) pores. Texture is hard and brittle; fracture is granular in the outer layer and fibrous in the inner layer, which peels readily from the outer bark. Odor is faintly fishy and oily; intensifies upon breaking. Taste bitter and astringent.
Stem bark (dry): Mostly irregular, oblate plates of varying size, 3–5 mm thick (up to 20 mm). Outer surface is dull gray to grayish-black, with irregular vertical and transverse fissures; lenticels are prominent; pale brownish-yellow where cork is removed. Fracture surface is granular.
Pharmacological Actions: (1) In vitro inhibition of Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, Escherichia coli, and Entamoeba histolytica; (2) significant antitumor activity; (3) anthelmintic effects against Ascaris lumbricoides and therapeutic potential in cervical cancer.
Medicinal Efficacy: Clearing heat and drying dampness, astringing to stop leukorrhea, arresting diarrhea, stopping bleeding. It is indicated for leukorrhea with reddish discharge, damp-heat diarrhea and dysentery, protracted diarrhea and dysentery, hematochezia, metrorrhagia, and metrostaxis.
Administration of Cortex Ailanthi (Chūn Pí):
Reference:
Administration Guide of Cortex Ailanthi (Chūn Pí)
TCM Books:
(1) Internally: 6–9 grams; (2) Internally: water decoction, 2–4 qián (approximately 6–12 grams), or prepared as pills or powder; external use: wash with water decoction or prepare as a paste for topical application; (3) Internally: water decoction, 6–15 grams, or prepared as pills or powder; external use: appropriate amount—wash with water decoction, apply as a paste, or apply finely ground herb powder topically.
✵The article describes the herb Tree-of-heaven Bark, including its English name, Latin name, Pinyin name, properties and flavor, and its botanical source—(1) Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle—along with a detailed introduction to the botanical features, growth characteristics, and ecological environment of this species, as well as the characteristics of the herb, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guidelines.
Pinyin Name: Chūn Pí
Botanical Description: Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle is also known as Toxicodendron altissimum (Mill.) Kuntze (syn. Taxicodendron altissima Mill.). Common names include Chūn Shù, Chòu Chūn, Bái Chūn, and Chūn Shù. It is a deciduous tree reaching up to 20 m in height. The bark is smooth with longitudinal fissures; young shoots are reddish-brown and sparsely pubescent. Leaves are imparipinnate and alternate, 45–90 cm long; leaflets 13–25, opposite or subopposite, chartaceous (papery), ovate-lanceolate, 7–12 cm long and 2.5–4 cm wide; apex is acuminate, base is obliquely truncate, margins are entire except for 1–2 pairs of coarse teeth on each side, each tooth bearing a single gland on its abaxial apex.
Inflorescences are terminal panicles; flowers are polygamous (functionally unisexual on the same plant), greenish-white; pedicels are 1–2.5 mm long; sepals 5, imbricate, lobes 0.5–1 mm long; petals 5, 2–2.5 mm long, with hirsute flanks at the base; stamens 10 in male flowers, filaments are densely hirsute at the base and longer than the petals; in female flowers, filaments are shorter than the petals; anthers are oblong, ~1 mm long; carpels 5, styles are fused, stigma is 5-lobed.
Ecological Environment: Widely naturalized and cultivated worldwide. Commonly found near dwellings, villages, roadsides, and wastelands, at elevations below 2,700 m.
Characteristics of the Herb: Root bark: Irregular blocks or rolled tubes of varying size and thickness (2–5 mm, up to 10 mm). Outer surface is yellowish-gray (sallow) or yellowish-brown, coarse and rough, with conspicuous, vertically elongated, slightly protuberant lenticels; outer cork may exfoliate, revealing a yellowish-white layer beneath. Inner surface is primrose-yellow (pale yellow), flat, densely covered with fine, prismatic (spindle-shaped) pores. Texture is hard and brittle; fracture is granular in the outer layer and fibrous in the inner layer, which peels readily from the outer bark. Odor is faintly fishy and oily; intensifies upon breaking. Taste bitter and astringent.
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