Medicinal Herbs

Broken Bones Tree Bark Extract

Oroxylum indicum

The broken bones tree (Oroxylum indicum), núc nác in Vietnamese, is a tall, sparsely branched tree of 7-12m, occasionally 25m, with ash-grey bark and enormous twice- or thrice-divided leaves up to two metres long. Purple-red flowers hang in metre-long sprays, followed by flat capsules 50-80cm long packed with papery winged seeds, the mộc hồ điệp or wooden butterflies. It grows wild and planted the length of Vietnam, and in China, India, Laos and Cambodia. Bark is pared from living trees, best in spring and summer; ripe seeds are taken in late autumn. Both are simply dried. The bark is odourless, bitter and slightly acrid.