VietNamNet Bridge – Old polyscias fruticosa roots, coucal, bumblebee and gecko, as well as and other plants and animals from the jungle, are now available in town to satisfy the need for “unique and tonic” products of townsmen.

A vendor on the street of Hanoi.

However, no one can verify the quality and effects on health of these wild products.

You can buy “products from the jungle” from male vendors, who carry cages of snakes, geckos and insects (or glass jars containing the animals soaked in alcohol), polyscias fruticosa roots and bumblebee hives. To make customers believe that they are real foresters, they drive motorcycles with the number plates of northern mountainous provinces like Yen Bai (26), Son La (28) or Hoa Binh.

Mr. Huy, a seller of wild products, said he had traded forest products for four years. Huy said previously he had sold these items in his hometown but the business became harder because these products were so common in the countryside. The products are still unfamiliar to Hanoians so he brings them to the city.

Huy said he no longer sells wild things in Hanoi because there are many vendors like him and some sell fake products, which has caused customers to doubt product quality.

“The best-selling products are dried Polyscias fruticosa roots and bumblebee hives. People buy them to soak in alcohol for disease treatment. I sells 1kg of dried Polyscias fruticosa roots for VND150,000 ($7) and VND250,000 ($12) for 1 kg of bumblebee hive (including bees, pupae and hive),” Huy said.

Old polyscias fruticosa roots.

If you go along the highways in the northern provinces of Hoa Binh, Yen Bai, Phu Tho and others, you will see many shops selling dried Polyscias fruticosa roots. It is very difficult for them to distinguish whether they are true dried Polyscias fruticosa roots or roots of other trees.

Visitors usually buy a few dozen kilos of dried Polyscias fruticosa roots as gifts for their families and friends. It will be okay if they buy dried Polyscias fruticosa roots or the roots of nonpoisonous trees; otherwise, users will get poison. The media has reported many poisoning cases from fake Polyscias fruticosa roots.

Huy said it was very difficult to catch geckos, insects or bumblebees so some traders sell fake products.

Le Ha