Identification & Quality Standard
Cortex Phellodendri
Botanical Origin
The dried tree barks of Phellodendron chinense Schneid.(Rutaceae), also called ‘Chuan huang bai’.
Production Regions
Primarily produced in the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou.
Quality Requirements
Superior medicinal material has thick cortex and yellow fractured surface.
Macroscopic Features
Board-shaped or shallow grooved pieces, uneven in length, 3~6mm thick. Outer surface is yellowish-brown, flat or with longitudinal grooves, sometimes one can see scars of lenticels and remnants of grayish-brown rough skin. Inner surface is dark yellow or pale brown, with thin dense longitudinal ridges. Light in weight, hard texture; fractured surface is fibrous, in cracked layers, dark yellow. faint odor, very bitter taste, sticky when chewed.
