Botanical atlas

Burning Bush

Dictamnus dasycarpus

For generations the peeled root bark of Dictamnus dasycarpus, known in Chinese medicine as Bai Xian Pi, was simmered into decoctions meant to cool what practitioners called damp heat, the traditional explanation behind angry, weeping skin complaints like eczema and ringworm. Herbalists also worked it into formulas alongside other bitter, cooling roots for jaundice and for aching, swollen joints. In the garden, the plant earned an entirely separate kind of fame, prized by generations of growers not for its medicine chest but for the strange blue flash it can produce on a still summer night. Today it is respected as much for its history and its horticultural oddity as for any remedy still practiced.

In tradition.

For generations the peeled root bark of Dictamnus dasycarpus, known in Chinese medicine as Bai Xian Pi, was simmered into decoctions meant to cool what practitioners called damp heat, the traditional explanation behind angry, weeping skin complaints like eczema and ringworm. Herbalists also worked it into formulas alongside other bitter, cooling roots for jaundice and for aching, swollen joints. In the garden, the plant earned an entirely separate kind of fame, prized by generations of growers not for its medicine chest but for the strange blue flash it can produce on a still summer night. Today it is respected as much for its history and its horticultural oddity as for any remedy still practiced.

Safety.

Internal use of the root bark has been linked to liver injury in modern case reports, so it should never be self-prescribed. The living plant's leaves, stems, and seed pods can cause severe burns and blistering if skin contact is followed by sunlight, so wear gloves and long sleeves when handling it and avoid it entirely during pregnancy or breastfeeding.