Medium-sized tree, 10 m. high or more. Leaves alternate, petiolate, margins toothed. The bark and leaves contain a milky latex which stretches into numerous strands when broken.
Eucommiaceae
Eucommia ulmoides Oliv.
Local names:
English name:
Gutta-percha tree.
Description:
Medium-sized tree, 10 m. high or more. Leaves alternate, petiolate, margins toothed. The bark and leaves contain a milky latex which stretches into numerous strands when broken. Flowers unisexual, dioecious; perianth none in either sex. Fruit rhomboidal, flat, brown, single-seeded.
Flowering period:
March - May.
Distribution:
An imported plant, cultivated in mountainous regions.
Parts used:
The bark, separated from the tree in summer and pressed flat, is left in heaps for 6-7 days until the internal surface takes on a blackish tinge. It is then dried in the sun or in ovens.
Chemical composition:
The bark yields gutta-percha, resins, the glucosides aucubin and loganin; lipids, proteins, essential oil and chlorogenic acid.
Therapeutic uses:
The trunk bark, which possesses antihypertensive and anti-inflammatory properties, is used to regulate the activity of the sex hormones. It is also used in treating nephrosis, lumbago, arthrodynia, spermatorrhoea, impotence, uterine colic and uterine haemorrhage in pregnancy, hypertension, polyuria, rheumatism, inflammation and oedema. It is given in a daily dose of 12 to 20 g in the form of a decoction, liquid extract, powder, pills or elixir.