Eucommia ulmoides

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Eucommia ulmoides
Foliage and flowers
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Garryales
Family: Eucommiaceae
Genus: Eucommia
Species:
E. ulmoides
Binomial name
Eucommia ulmoides

Eucommia ulmoides is a species of small

herbology such as traditional Chinese medicine
.

Description

Eucommia ulmoides grows to about 15 m tall. The leaves are

rubber and hold the two parts of the leaf together. It flowers from March to May. The flowers are inconspicuous, small and greenish; the fruit, June to November, is a winged samara with one seed, very similar to an elm
samara in appearance, 2–3 cm long and 1–2 cm broad.

Taxonomy

E. ulmoides is the sole living species of the genus

rubber tree
.

Distribution

This tree is also occasionally planted in botanical gardens and other gardens in Europe, North America and elsewhere, being of interest as the only cold-tolerant (to at least -30 °C) rubber-producing tree. Fossils of other Eucommia species have been found in 10- to 35-million-year-old brown coal deposits in central Europe and widely in North America, indicating that the genus had a much wider range in the past.[3]

Uses

Eucommia ulmoides pastilles, known as dùzhòngwán (Chinese: 杜仲丸)

It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in Chinese herbology, where it is called dùzhòng (Chinese: 杜仲). Because of the low production and high demand for natural rubber in China, a unique process has been developed to manufacture elastic materials with Eucommia ulmoides gum (EUG) as substitutes for natural rubber products. Unlike the latex used to produce natural rubber, the EUG is the polymer trans-1,4-polyisoprene. Thus materials made from EUG may demonstrate characteristics other than those of natural rubber, such as higher elasticity, lower thermoplastic temperature, etc.

Chemistry

The iridoid glucoside geniposidic acid can be found in E. ulmoides.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eucommia ulmoides.
Wikispecies has information related to Eucommia ulmoides.
  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T31280A130694949.en
    . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ "IPNI Plant name details Eucommia ulmoides". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  3. S2CID 20464075
    .
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eucommia_ulmoides&oldid=1180111830"