Ailanthus glandulosa (DESF.)
N.O. Simarubeae
Synonyms: Chinese Sumach. Vernis de
Japon. Ailanto. (Trans. as Tree
of the Gods. - Götterbaum.).
Part Used: Inner bark of tree, root.
Habitat: China and India. Cuitivated throughout Europe and the United
States.
Description |
Constituents
| Medicinal
Action and Uses
| Dosages
¶ Description.
A large, handsome tree of rapid
growth, bearing leaves from 1 to 2 feet long, and greenish flowers of a
disagreeable odour. Was introduced into England in 1751 and is frequently found
in gardens as a shade tree.
The Ailanthus imberiflora occurs in Australia, and in India the A.
excelsa has a bark used as a bitter tonic.
In France it is cultivated for its leaves, on which the caterpillar of the
silk-spinning Ailanthus Moth (Bombyx Cynthia) is fed, yielding a silk
more durable and cheaper than Mulberry silk, though inferior to it in fineness
and gloss. Its name of Japan Varnish shows that it was mistaken for the true
Japanese Varnish Tree, a species of Sumach. At one time it was classed as a Rhus.
The wood is satiny, yellowish-white, and well suited for cabinet-making when
climates permit of adequate growth.
The bark has a nauseating, bitter taste, and, when fresh, a sickening odour.
The leaves have been found in commerce adulterated with those of
senna.
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¶ Constituents.
Lignin, chlorophyll, a yellow
colouring matter, a gelatinous substance (pectin), quassin, an odorous resin,
traces of a volatile oil, a nitrogenous, fatty matter, and several salts. A
later analysis found starch, tannin, albumen, gum, sugar, oleoresin, and a trace
of volatile oil, potash, phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, iron, lime, and
magnesia.
All the characteristic properties of eitherthe fresh or carefully dried bark
can be exhausted by alcohol, to which a deep, green colour will be imparted,
changing to yellowish-brown with age and more quickly if exposed to air.
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¶ Medicinal Action and
Uses. Antispasmodic,
cardiac depressant, astringent. The effect produced by Hetet when experimenting
on dogs, was copious stools and the discharge of worms. The resin purges, but
rarely acts as an anthelmintic. In China the bark is popular for dysentery and
other bowel complaints. A smaller dose of the oleoresin produces similar
results, and keeps better than the bark.
The vapours of the evaporating extract have a prostrating effect, as have the
emanations from the blossoms, while the action upon patients of powder or
extract is disagreeable and nauseating, though they have been successfully used
in dysentery and diarrhoea, gonorrhoea, leucorrhoea, prolapsus ani, etc., and
also as a taenifuge.
The infusion may be given in sweetened orange-flower or other aromatic water,
to lessen the bitterness and resultant sickness. Though it produces vomiting and
great relaxation, it is stated not to be poisonous.
A tincture of the root-bark has been used successfully in cardiac
palpitation, asthma and epilepsy.
The action of the trees in malarial districts is considered to resemble that
of the Eucalyptus.
The statement that the resin is purgative has been disputed, some asserting
that it is inert.
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¶ Dosages.
From 7 to 20 grains. Of the tincture, 5
to 60 drops from two to four times aday. Of the infusion, a teaspoonful, night
and morning, cold. (50 grams of the rootbark infused for a short time in 75
grams of hot water, then strained.)
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Reprinted from "A
Modern Herbal" (1931)
Mrs. M. Grieve, Edited by Mrs. C.F. Leyel
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