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Eucommia (Greek, eu, well, and kommi, gum; alluding to the fact that the plant contains rubber). Eucommiaceae. Deciduous tree grown for its handsome foliage and also for its possibility as a hardy rubber- producing tree.

Eucommia (Greek, eu, well, and kommi, gum; alluding to the fact that the plant contains rubber). Eucommiaceae. Deciduous tree grown for its handsome foliage and also for its possibility as a hardy rubber- producing tree.

Eucommia is an upright-growing vigorous tree with rather large elliptic dark green foliage, inconspicuous precocious flowers and winged fruits; in habit and foliage it resembles somewhat an elm tree. In China the bark is a most valued medicine. The tree contains rubber in all its parts, particularly in the young growth and in the bark. Though the rubber has proved to be of good quality, it is apparently difficult of extraction and not present in sufficient quantity to make the commercial exploitation of the tree pay; therefore the Lopes which have been set in this "hardy rubber tree" will probably never realize. The tree has proved perfectly hardy as far north as Massachusetts and grows well in a loamy humid soil. Propagation is by seeds and by greenwood cuttings under glass.

Eucommia is an upright-growing vigorous tree with rather large elliptic dark green foliage, inconspicuous precocious flowers and winged fruits; in habit and foliage it resembles somewhat an elm tree. In China the bark is a most valued medicine. The tree contains rubber in all its parts, particularly in the young growth and in the bark. Though the rubber has proved to be of good quality, it is apparently difficult of extraction and not present in sufficient quantity to make the commercial exploitation of the tree pay; therefore the Lopes which have been set in this "hardy rubber tree" will probably never realize. The tree has proved perfectly hardy as far north as Massachusetts and grows well in a loamy humid soil. Propagation is by seeds and by greenwood cuttings under glass.

==Cultivation==

| color = lightgreen

 

| name = ''Eucommia''

===Propagation===

| image = Eucommia-ulmoides.JPG

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| image_width = 240px

| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]

| ordo = [[Garryales]]

| familia = '''Eucommiaceae'''

| familia_authority = [[Adolf Engler|Engler]]

| genus = '''''Eucommia'''''

| genus_authority = [[Daniel Oliver|Oliv.]]

}}

'''Eucommia''' (''Eucommia ulmoides'') is a small [[tree]] native to [[China]]. It is [[extinct]] in the wild, but is widely cultivated in China for its [[bark]], highly valued in [[herbology]] such as [[Traditional Chinese medicine]] (TCM).

''Eucommia'' is the sole member of the family Eucommiaceae, and was formerly considered to be a separate order, the Eucommiales. It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in [[Chinese herbology]], where it is called dùzhòng ([[wiktionary:杜|杜]][[wiktionary:仲|仲]]).

===Pests and diseases===

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Eucommia grows to about 15 m tall. The leaves are [[deciduous]], arranged alternately, simple [[ovate]] with an [[acuminate]] tip, 8–16 cm long, and with a serrated margin. If a leaf is torn across, strands of [[latex]] exuded from the leaf veins solidify into [[rubber]] and hold the two parts of the leaf together. The [[flower]]s are inconspicuous, small and greenish; the [[fruit]] is a winged [[Samara (fruit)|samara]] with one [[seed]], very similar to an [[elm]] samara in appearance, 2–3 cm long and 1–2 cm broad.

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Eucommia is also occasionally planted in [[botanical garden]]s and other [[garden]]s in [[Europe]], [[North America]] and elsewhere, being of interest as the only cold-tolerant (to at least -30°C) rubber-producing tree.

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It is also sometimes known as "Gutta-percha tree" or "Chinese rubber tree", but is not related to either the true [[Gutta-percha]] tree of southeastern Asia, nor to the South American [[Para rubber tree|rubber tree]].

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[[Fossil]]s of ''Eucommia'' have been found in 10–35 million year old [[lignite|brown coal]] deposits in central [[Europe]] and widely in [[North America]] (Call & Dilcher 1997), indicating that the genus had a much wider range in the past.

*[[Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture]], by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

<!--- xxxxx  *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381  -->

<!--- xxxxx  *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432  -->

<!--- xxxxx  *Sunset National Garden Book. Sunset Books, Inc., 1997. ISBN 0376038608  -->

==Ethnomedical Use==

==External links==

{{stub}}

* {{IUCN2006|assessors=World Conservation Monitoring Centre|year=1998|id=31280|title=Eucommia ulmoides|downloaded=11 May 2006}}

[[Category:Categorize]]

*Call, V.B. and Dilcher, D.L. 1997. The fossil record of Eucommia (Eucommiaceae) in North America. ''American Journal of Botany'' 84(6): 798-814. Available [http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/reprint/84/6/798.pdf online] (pdf file)

[[Category:Garryales]]

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