Ailantus is a rather large tree, reaching up to 30 m in height and 9-20 meters wide, has wide and openwork foliage. Other names: Acetic tree, skunk, chumak, paradise tree, god tree.
Description:
This tree has a slender cylindrical trunk with dark gray bark. The leaves are dark green, up to 60 cm in size, unpaired pinnately compound, palmate. The foliage turns a slightly yellowish color in autumn. The flowers are small, bisexual and staminate (male), yellowish-green in color, in large inflorescences, 10-20 cm long. Male flowers have an unpleasant odor. Ailanthus blooms in June-August. The fruits are flat, irregularly rhombic in shape, straw-yellow to reddish-brown in color. The fruit is 3-5 cm long and up to 1 cm wide and contains one smooth black seed. The seed is poisonous! Distributed in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and also in Ukraine as an ornamental tree.
Contains active substances:
quassin
Medicinal properties:
The main raw materials are mature, well-dried fruits containing bitter substances (quassin). Fruit tincture is used for all kinds of sore throats. Also, the fruits are used in homeopathy for cholelithiasis, as well as an anticancer agent. In folk medicine, flowers, fresh fruits and young bark are used to treat scarlet fever and sometimes diphtheria. With antiviral and insecticidal properties, the leaves have pronounced antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.