Where is Eucommia ulmoides produced? Introduction to the distribution of its main producing areas

Eucommia ulmoides is known as the “Chinese rubber tree”, but Eucommia ulmoides actually has nothing to do with the rubber tree, so what exactly is Eucommia ulmoides? And where is the producing area of Eucommia ulmoides?

1. What is Eucommia ulmoides?

Eucommia ulmoides is a deciduous tree belonging to the family Eucommiaceae and the genus Eucommia. The plant is up to 20 m tall, with a diameter at breast height of about 50 cm.

The bark is grayish brown, rough, contains rubber, and when broken and pulled apart has many fine threads; the leaves are elliptic, ovate, or oblong, thinly leathery, 6-15 cm long and 3.5-6.5 cm wide; the flowers grow at the base of the current year's branches, the male flowers have no perianth; the pedicel is about 3 mm long, hairless, the bracts are obovate-spatulate, 6-8 mm long, with a rounded apex and ciliate margins, falling early; the nut is located in the center, slightly protruding, the ovary stalk is 2-3 mm long, with a joint where it meets the fruit stalk.

Eucommia ulmoides also has medicinal value. In traditional Chinese medicine, the dried bark of the plant Eucommia ulmoides in the family Eucommiaceae can treat waist and leg pain or soreness and weakness caused by kidney yang deficiency, instability of the fetus caused by liver qi deficiency, and damp itching of the scrotum, among other conditions.

2. Producing area of Eucommia ulmoides

The main producing area of Eucommia ulmoides is Zhangjiajie. It is cultivated in various parts of China, distributed in Shaanxi, Gansu, Hubei, Sichuan, Henan (Xichuan), Anhui, Shaanxi, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Hunan, among other places.

Because Eucommia ulmoides prefers a warm and humid climate and a sunny environment, and can also tolerate cold, it can grow in most areas of China, but due to Zhangjiajie's special geographical environment, it has become the world's largest wild producing area of Eucommia ulmoides to date.

Zhangjiajie is a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of Hunan Province, China, located in northwestern Hunan, in the middle and upper reaches of the Lishui River, in the hinterland of the Wuling Mountains, at 30° north latitude. It has a mid-subtropical mountainous monsoon humid climate, with a total area of 9,518 sq km, and is one of China's most important tourist cities.

In September 1982, Zhangjiajie became China's first national forest park; in August 1988, Wulingyuan was included in the country's second batch of 40 key scenic spots; in 1992, the Wulingyuan Natural Scenic Area, composed of the three major scenic areas of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Suoxiyu Scenic Area, and Tianzi Mountain Scenic Area, was inscribed by UNESCO on the World Natural Heritage List.