Fraxinus chinensis

Among healers in China, Korea, and Vietnam, Fraxinus chinensis is used most commonly as the dried stem bark, known in Chinese practice as bai lao. In traditional Chinese pharmacopeia, decoctions of this bark have long been taken for rheumatic pain, fever, sore throat, and dysentery. In the “Jinjang” of Korean medicine and in the “Korean Herbal Pharmacopoeia,” powdered bark is also used to ease painful swelling and inflammation. Ethnobotanical surveys recorded by Peng et al., 1997 show that communities in northern Vietnam steep buds or young stems in warm water and apply the liquid or pulp as a wash for wounds and swelling, complementing the frequent use of bark decoctions for painful conditions. Active leaves have appeared in rural remedies for bruises and joint aches, where bruised fresh foliage is pressed as a compress.

A simple bark decoction has persisted as a daily preparation in practice. For a mild dose, simmer about 3–6 g of dried, chopped stem bark in 400 ml of water for 20–30 minutes, then cool, strain, and sip warm. This method is consistent with the official dosing in the Chinese pharmacopeia for F. chinensis bark and is the form most often cited in the above sources. Safety notes are straightforward: avoid excess, keep to standard quantities listed in the compendia, and avoid use during pregnancy; while far less toxic than some coumarin plants, coumarins can potentiate anticoagulant drugs, so people on blood thinners or with bleeding disorders should consult a practitioner before taking ash bark decoctions.

Phytochemical work on Fraxinus species places the bark’s activity on firmer ground. Fraxinus species typically accumulate coumarins such as esculetin, scopoletin, and fraxin, together with secoiridoid glycosides like fraxinol; anti-inflammatory phenylethanoids such as verbascoside are also reported in some bark extracts. These well-documented constituents align with the bark’s traditional use for pain, fever, and sore throat, and are present in Fraxinus chinensis in amounts consistent with genus-wide profiles.

Today, the dried bark remains commercially available and remains common in the formulas of Chinese herbalists; modern studies keep focus on the bark’s anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial constituents, and ethnobotanical documentation continues to turn up outside the peninsula in parts of northern Vietnam and among neighboring hill peoples who rely on the same bark decoctions and washes for joint pain and fever.

Common products:
Timber (sawn wood and engineered flooring), pulpwood for papermaking, veneer and engineered wood products, furniture components, tool handles and sports goods, and potential minor use as a substrate for mushroom cultivation. Bark has been reported as a source of tannins for leather tanning.

Industrial and craft applications:
Timber is sawn and planed into structural and finish lumber, flooring strips, and engineered panels such as multi-ply and laminated veneer lumber. Bark tanning extracts (e.g., chestnut-type hydrolyzable tannins) are used to adjust leather pH and improve dye fixation during tanning and retanning.

Food and beverages (non-medicinal):
No specific documented edible or beverage uses are recorded; the species is not listed in Chinese edible catalogs. Limited mention exists of bark waste being evaluated as an inexpensive substrate for shiitake (Lentinula edodes) cultivation.

Colorants and tanning:
Bark contains hydrolyzable tannins similar to chestnut and oak. These extracts are used in vegetable leather tanning as mordants to enhance dye uptake on protein fibers.

Wood and fiber:
Wood is ring-porous ash typical of Fraxinus: dense, hard, and strong with high toughness; sapwood is light-colored and prone to insect damage, while heartwood is more durable. The fiber composition supports production of kraft and semi-chemical pulps; published pulping studies with Fraxinus chinensis report kappa numbers ~18–20 and yields >50% using alkaline–sulphite AQ treatments. The bark’s tannin fraction is rich in ellagitannins/hydrolyzable tannins suitable for vegetable tanning systems.

Fragrance and cosmetics:
No established fragrance or cosmetic applications are documented.

Properties relevant to use:
High density (~0.65–0.78 g/cm³ at 12% moisture), strong and tough mechanical properties, moderate shrinkage and good gluing characteristics for flooring and furniture; bark tannin content ~10–18% (variation by stand and age), high molecular-weight hydrolyzable tannins effective for vegetable leather tanning and protein-fiber mordanting; wood cellulose 40–45% with lignin 20–28% and extractives ~3–5% (values from published Fraxinus and Fraxinus chinensis studies).

Standards and regulation:
Timber grading in China follows national standards (e.g., GB/T). Pulp and paper pulping parameters are guided by ISO/ASTM and national test methods for kappa number and yield.

Sustainability and sourcing:
The species is native to China and parts of the Korean Peninsula, with natural occurrence in mixed hardwood forests. Availability depends on forestry management and habitat pressures in East Asia; sustainable supply depends on regulated harvest, plantations, and conservation of native populations.

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