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 (traditional Chinese medicine). It is the sole member of the family Eucommiaceae, and was formerly considered to be a separate order, the Eucommiales. It is called dùzhòng (杜仲) in Chinese.
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 flowers are inconspicuous, small and greenish; the fruit is a winged samara with one seed, very similar to an elm samara in appearance, 2–3 cm long and 1–2 cm broad.
Eucommia 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.
Astrocytes and synaptic plasticity Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 (Rockefeller University Press) By mopping up excess neurotrophic factor from neuronal synapses, astrocytes may finely tune synaptic transmission to affect processes such as learning and memory, say Bergami et al. Their report is published in the Journal of Cell Biology. Body's anti-HIV drug explained Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 (University of Southern California) Study in journal Nature reveals atomic structure of enzyme capable of repelling HIV virus, suggesting new approach for drug development. Pectin power Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 (Norwich BioScience Institutes) Scientists from the UK's Institute of Food Research have found a new possible explanation for why people who eat more fruit and vegetables may gain protection against the spread of cancers.They have shown that a fragment released from pectin, found in all fruits and vegetables, binds to and is believed to inhibit galectin 3, a protein that plays a role in all stages of cancer progression.