Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda
Indian trumpet tree (Oroxylum indicum), of the Bignoniaceae family. Small deciduous tree with large winged seed-pods; native range: Indian subcontinent, southern China and Southeast Asia. Globally recognized as shyonaka / tuntuka in Sanskrit, sona patha in Hindi, mu hu die (木蝴蝶) in Chinese, and Indian trumpet tree, broken bones tree, midnight horror in English. The part used is root-bark (Ayurveda); papery winged seed (TCM). The seed is a thin translucent white wing, silky and near-tasteless with a faint bitterness; the root-bark is thick, bitter and astringent.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
INDIAN TRUMPET TREE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Indian trumpet tree
- Scientific name
- Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz
- Family
- Bignoniaceae
Form
- Part used
- root-bark (Ayurveda); papery winged seed (TCM)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter · sweet
- Ayurveda
- bitter (tikta) · astringent (kashaya)
Temperature
- TCM
- cool
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Liver · Stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears Lung heat, soothes the Liver, benefits the throat and voice, and promotes the healing of sores
- Ayurveda
- deepana-pachana (digestive), grahi (astringent to the bowel), shothahara (anti-inflammatory), kaphavatahara, a chief dashamula root
Cautions
- Contraindications
- Spleen and Stomach cold with loose stool in TCM; high pitta states in Ayurveda
- Toxicity
- no notable toxicity in normal doses
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