The bark is harvested from a local plant belonging to the Urticaceae family, the exact species is not known but likely Boehmeria malabarica or Debregesia longifolia. The shrub grows in tropical environments by streams or rivers. Note that tout tiang bark is easily depleted as currently it is not grown as a plantation, instead harvested wild.
Uses
- Glue for sticking the saw dust and oils to make an incense stick. It is known that Laos villagers collect from their local forest and sell the bark to Chinese manufacturers.
- The glue is allegedly also used in bamboo paper making to glue the adhesives together
Potential Uses
- No new uses as yet identified by authors. Your contributions welcome!
Processes
It seems minimal processing is carried out although information is not readily available:
- Bark is sun dried
- Bark is crushed
- It is boiled in water resulting in the gluey substance
- Any fibres / bits of bark are removed to leave just the glue
More Information
- http://www.cifor.org/ntfpcd/pdf/books20.PDF