Purple wood bark, also known as Zi You Mu Pi in Chinese, is the bark of the plant Pistacia weinmannifolia J.Poisson ex Franch., belonging to the Anacardiaceae family. It is found in southwest China, as well as Guangxi and Tibet. It has the function of astringent and hemostatic, and is commonly used for external bleeding.
Zi You Mu Pi is the bark of the plant Pistacia weinmannifolia J.Poisson ex Franch.
Pistacia weinmannifolia, also known as Qing Xiang Mu in Chinese, is a shrub or small tree that grows 2-8 meters tall, occasionally reaching 10-15 meters. Its bark is gray, with brown lenticels on the branches, and the young branches are covered with gray-yellow soft hairs.
The inflorescence is axillary, appearing along with the leaves, and covered with yellow-brown soft hairs and red glandular hairs. The flowers are small and purple-red, stalkless, with one ovate bract that is concave and about 1.5 millimeters in diameter. The bract is covered with brown soft hairs and has fine cilia along the edge. The fruit is spherical, about 5 millimeters long and 6 millimeters in diameter when mature, and turns red at the tip.
Zi You Mu Pi mainly grows in limestone forests or shrubs at an altitude of 580-2700 meters, and is found in southwest China, Guangxi and Tibet.
Cultivation: It prefers a warm and humid climate, with abundant sunlight and well-drained soil. It is suitable to be cultivated in sandy loam soil with deep soil layer and rich humus content.
Cultivation technique: Propagation is done using seeds. Mature and full fruits are harvested, dried, and stored in sand. The seeds are sown in March the following year, with rows spaced 30cm apart and seeds 5cm apart. After covering the soil, water is applied to keep the soil moist. When the seedlings reach a height of 35-40cm, they are transplanted. The planting distance is 300cm x 300cm.
