WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants - travolekar.ru

Cortex Viburni Prunifolii
tile, uni-ovulate, style short with 3 sessile stigmas. Fruit: drupe globose,
blue-black, glaucous, 6–10 mm wide, 7–16 mm long, persistent (3, 6).
Plant material of interest: dried stem, trunk and root bark
General appearance
Stem and trunk bark: irregularly and transversely curved or quilled or cut
into irregularly shaped oblong chips of varying sizes (1.5–15 cm in length
by 0.5–1.5 cm in diameter, and up to 6 mm in thickness). The outer surface
of young bark is silvery grey with raised oval lenticels. The outer bark is
usually covered with lichens and mosses. The outer surface of older bark
is greyish-brown to black or reddish-brown where the cork has been
abraded. When cork is present, usually on older bark, it is divided into irregular
oblique, longitudinal, or transverse intersecting fissures.
The inner surface is longitudinally striated, pale yellowish to reddish-brown,
or pale yellow with reddish-brown blotches and streaks. The
fracture is short and uneven showing greyish to blackish outer bark,
greenish-brown to reddish-brown middle bark and light brown to whitish
inner bark in which scattered groups of pale yellowish stone cells may
be discerned with a hand lens (3, 6).
Root bark: transversely curved pieces or quills 1.5–10 cm long, up to 2 cm
wide and 0.5–4 mm thick. The outer surface is greyish-brown or brownish-red
where the cork is missing. The youngest pieces have slight longitudinal
wrinkles, older bark has small rounded or oval lenticels and is irregularly
wrinkled, fissured and scaly. The inner surface is pale yellowish
to reddish-brown with longitudinal striations. The fracture is weak, brittle,
short and uneven. The fractured surface shows greyish-brown or dark
brown cork, brownish to brownish-red middle bark, and whitish inner
bark with a number of pale yellow groups of stone cells visible with a
hand lens. Fractured surfaces exhibit numerous minute calcium oxalate
crystals that appear as glittering points (3, 6).
Organoleptic properties
Odour: characteristically pungent, valerian-like; taste: astringent and bitter
(3, 6).
Microscopic characteristics
Stem bark: cork of variable width and composed of usually tangentially
elongated cells with suberized to lignified walls. The cork layer consists
of reddish-brown polygonal cells. The primary cortex consists of slightly
thickened parenchyma cells containing calcium oxalate rosettes (10–20 μm
in diameter). Oil droplets are present in the bark of young plants. When
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