Pau D Arco

🌿 Pau d’Arco

Handroanthus spp.

also traditionally classified as Tabebuia

Family:

Bignoniaceae

Trumpet Vine Family

Part Traditionally Used:

Inner Bark

Character:

Bitter

Warming

Drying

The Inner Bark

Pau d’Arco is a tree medicine.

Not leaf

or flower

but the inner bark

the protected layer carried beneath the outer surface of the tree.

Native to Central and South America

Pau d’Arco has a long history of traditional use among Indigenous peoples

and in South American herbal traditions.

The name is commonly applied to several closely related Handroanthus species

which is one reason the botanical identity of purchased bark matters.

Its traditional uses have included preparations for microbial concerns

inflammation

digestive complaints

and general strengthening.

Modern research has also investigated naturally occurring compounds in the bark

particularly lapachol and related naphthoquinones.

Laboratory findings

however

are not the same thing as demonstrated benefit in the human body.

Pau d’Arco has developed some very large modern claims

particularly around cancer and infection

that go considerably beyond what clinical evidence currently supports.

🌳 The Medicine Beneath the Surface

There is something remarkable about working with bark.

A leaf reaches outward.

A flower opens.

A root descends.

Bark holds the boundary.

And Pau d’Arco asks us to go one layer deeper still

to the inner bark

where the living tree conducts and protects what moves between root and crown.

That makes this an herb I associate with

resilience

boundaries

and the strength held beneath appearances.

🫖 Traditional Preparation

Pau d’Arco bark is traditionally prepared as a decoction rather than a simple infusion.

Bark is tougher than leaves and flowers

and generally needs sustained heat to extract its constituents into water.

The exact amount and preparation should depend upon the identity and strength of

the material being used rather than assuming every commercial Pau d’Arco product is

interchangeable.

⚠️ A Plant to Treat With Respect

Pau d’Arco is not an herb I would present as an everyday

drink-as-much-as-you-like tea.

Higher amounts can cause adverse effects including nausea

vomiting and increased bleeding risk.

It may interact with anticoagulant or antiplatelet medications

and medicinal use during pregnancy is generally avoided.

And because “Pau d’Arco” can refer to bark from different species

and products of varying quality

botanical identification and sourcing matter.

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