Eucommia ulmoides Seeds | Cortex Eucommiae Slices Bark Duzhong
LATIN NAME: Eucommia ulmoides
COMMON NAME: Eucommia, Hardy Rubber Tree, Du Zhong
Plant Profile
Known to gardeners as Eucommia, Eucommia ulmoides is a deciduous tree, native to hills of central China, while it is grown for its fine, leafy crown. Eucommia is a handsome and remarkable tree of the Chinese hills, and it is a tree that makes a true rubber. Given room and time, it reaches roughly Fifteen metres. Each of these traits is modest on its own; together they make a garden-worthy plant.
Science & Biotechnology
Du zhong is a botanical monotypic relic — the only species in its family — whose bark yields both rubbery gutta-percha and a pharmacopoeial drug. The Chinese Pharmacopoeia controls it through the lignan pinoresinol diglucoside, and the bark’s lignan and iridoid fractions lower blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats; in a controlled human trial, 1 g of standardised extract three times daily reduced blood pressure by about 7.5/3.9 mmHg versus placebo, with good tolerability. Its traditional kidney-tonic reputation for lower-back strength has partial support from bone-metabolism studies. The rubber threads in a snapped leaf still identify it at a glance.
Eucommia ulmoides sits in the Eucommia group, a group that keeps botanists, horticulturists and plant breeders busy with questions of classification, adaptation and ornamental potential. Hardy rubber tree has a real and distinguished place in the research. The practical point for growers is that this plant has been observed in gardens for so long that its behaviour holds few surprises.
Uses & Benefits
Beyond its ornamental appeal, Eucommia has the practical versatility that makes a plant worth growing from seed year after year. Ecologically, hardy rubber tree is a generous tree of the garden. Tonic for liver and kidney strengthening muscles and bones and stabilizing pregnancy use in liver and kidney deficiency chronic pain in lower back and knees, lack of strength, dizziness, impotence, irregular menses and frequent urination. In later seasons it demands little more than an appreciative eye.
Eucommia bark, Du Zhong, is a major Chinese tonic for lower back, knees and blood pressure support, unique for its gutta-percha latex strands; its lignans and iridoids are studied for vascular and bone effects, and the leaf makes a popular functional tea.
Growing from Seed
Raising Eucommia from seed is straightforward. Sow evenly over the surface and cover lightly into a loose, well-drained seed compost, water in gently, and keep the sowing in bright light with steady moisture. Shift the seedlings into small pots as soon as they can be handled, and give them bright light until planting-out time.
Our Take
Eucommia, Hardy Rubber Tree, Du Zhong earns its space through character rather than fuss. Attention to moisture in the first weeks pays off; later, the plant is forgiving.
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